I truly enjoyed Bill Kutik's excellent rant My Grudge Against Linkedin. It is a perfect example of a growing cynicism that Xers were defined by but has now spread to millennial and boomer populations.

 

It seems to many, inclduing me that the fine print in the social contracts between customers and the internet applications they use (especially the ones purporting to add social networking capabilities) is barely dry before the need to monetize overcomes their real and implied promises.

 

Facebook and Linkedin are two that are raising eyebrows at the moment but find me on a quiet day and I would be happy to share my own rants on a half dozen more of the biggest names.

 

Corporations are not immune. Most privacy statements are nothing of the sort- their legalese serves only to protect the firm against any and all breaches of confidentality. GE, State Street and 1 or two others are still the only folks who accept responsibility for the data they are given by applicants (and, in GEs case, they stand alone in offering the same protections globally that are required only in Europe.) The bar for privacy protection has never been lower.

 

I nearly went off the ranch myself the other day when I saw a video that suggested efforts were underway to open up the (dot).jobs domain beyond corporation names and allow urls like NewYork.jobs or Engineering.jobs. (You can be certain that would set off a new land rush for urls.) The problem is that SHRM was granted "Stewardship" of the domain and is charged with keeping it free of the scams and hype that typify the other domains and make it so difficult to identify the legitimate job boards. Fortunately, I was able to quickly confirm that the claim was groundless and the merely wishful thinking of SHRM's distribution partner.

 

The consequence of losing faith with "Trusted Partners" however will eventually redefine the recruiting industry.

 

I'm convinced that closed networks (limited to people with pre-existing affinity relationships like having graduated from the same school) are already exploding as a direct response to the perceived failure of web based services to protect their members privacy.

 

The stewards of these new networks will be the professional, social and educational associations- primarily non-profits... but not totally. Nearly every Corporation will soon allow employees, groups of employees (i.e. affinity groups, project teams, etc.) and former employees to maintain web-based social/professional network connections as a critical adjunct to their work contract- some firms will adopt this new approach kicking and screaming but most will accept it as an inevitable nod to the hive mentality a new generation of workers is exhibiting.

 

The engines partnering with these non-profits and corporations are behind the scenes (like affinity circles and select minds) and will be contracted to a much higher standard of data protection and limited acces from the outside. In response, the major social networks are already trying to offer corporate and member services  by offering some "firewall" capabilities. I would only recommend that corporations and societies have a presence on these larger open networks as a means of branding their private...and separate social apps.

 

Recruiters within corporations will tap these closed networks from within in new and much more subtle and respectful ways to pump true employee/affinity referrals. Third party recruiters will have no legitimate means of access.