I am really quite happy to see LinkedIn consolidating their hold on the future of online resume. However, it is also getting a little silly. Every day I get a slew of new endorsements on my skill set, often from people who do not know me.
This happens of course because LinkedIn is trying to drive up user engagement – and it is working. This underscores a fundamental problem that we face as social media increasingly influences our communications. These companies are of course going to try to monetize the experience, and sometimes that has unintended consequences.
What will be the value of endorsements when everyone has endorsed everyone else, for everything? Auto-suggesting endorsements when people log in is a bad idea.