Jonathan MacDonald

Infographic by – Conversion Rate Optimization Company Invesp

In the middle of 2011 LinkedIn did what many companies are eager to do, and that is to ‘tap into the goldmine of personal data’ by launching social ads: http://blog.linkedin.com/2011/06/23/social-ads/

Yes, Facebook are still doing something similar from the original emergence of this activity 4 years ago: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2008/01/facebook-ads-ma/

I’ve covered my feelings in this post: http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=5051 but in case you feel uneasy about having your profile used to promote products, services, and even other companies, you can follow the below steps to opt-out.

1. Hover over your name in LinkedIn and choose “Settings”

2. At the bottom left of the screen you will see “Account”. Click it.

3. Click on “Manage Social Advertising”

4. Remove the tick from the box that says “LinkedIn may use my name and photo in social advertising” (as in the above picture)

5. Press “Save”

Companies will continue to try and find the value in personal information, in a never-ending one way street of ignorance. Most will fail due to the systemic misunderstanding of what the real opportunities are in this modern world of business. Most will stubbornly resist adjusting to what value exchange actually needs to look like, and what identity and privacy really means for companies wishing to commercially succeed.

I’ll be assisting the others