Linking with the right people on Linkedin

Advertising is one of the finest and the cleverest form of communication.

Read somebody's profile on social media forum Linkedin. And couldnt help but conclude that advertising have gotten into the basics of life.

"Web-evangelist" said somebody's Linkedin profile. This person is a senior at workplace. For those who are unfamiliar with Linkedin, the dope is that Linkedin is a social media tool where professionals display their work achievements and add their colleagues/friends/acquaintances to their profile. This is called 'connecting' with people.

Anyway, back to the evangelist fellow. He is connected to me and I browsed his profile. "Web-evangelist" was just one of the few claims he had made of himself. There were other glorious descriptions like "experienced professional with deep understanding of the medium.... pioneer".

My heart sighed. Having known this person in real life. I know for sure that not one aota of this matches his real life persona. He is talented, no doubts about that. This is why he occupies an esteemed position in a reputed media company. Sadly he is nowhere the "pioneer and evangelist" material.

I mean its ok to use these words when required.. may be they seem meaningful in Ratan Tata or Azim Premji's profile. But they certainly do not justify any fool's CV. If he is a strategist then what should Narayan Murthy call himself - God.

May be this was his (my office chap's) way of advertising his profile on Linkedin. And he's not alone. Browse through any profile and it will talk of 'strategists, entreprenuers etc'

Wonder if these 'tricks' can help you create the right impression on fellows around. I personally have less than one drop of respect for this fellow. God bless the others in his tribe who use glorious words to describe themselves but do meagre little to justify it.

Have you had similar experiences? Do share in the 'comments' section.