Last week I received a LinkedIn request from a former colleague who I worked with years ago. He was asking for a generic LinkedIn recommendation that he could use as part of his profile.

I must admit, he’s a good guy. He does quality work and he’s fun to hang out with. We’ve even played poker a couple of times. And though we have not spoken in the recent past (over two years), I still consider him a friend.

But I can’t bring myself to write the recommendation.

Why not? See if you can tell based on his request (which I edited to remove the personal details):

Dear Trevor,

I’m building out my LinkedIn profile and am hoping that you can offer a brief recommendation of my work at [Our Company]. If you have any questions, let me know. I’ll also be sure to return the favor.

Thanks in advance for helping me out.

- Name Removed

Normally, I’m extremely pleased when someone personalizes a LinkedIn request. It ensures that I will at least add them to my contact list. However, it was the line “I’ll also be sure to return the favor” that has caused my concern.

Here’s my problem. I’m convinced that LinkedIn recommendations are worthless. They are being used as a badge of honor on a person’s profile. Liked Contacts on LinkedIn, Followers on Twitter, or Friends of Facebook, LinkedIn Recommendations are being used as a quantifiable judge of a person’s worth. The general idea is that someone who has more recommendations is “better” than someone with fewer recommendations. It becomes a race to accumulate accolades instead of a genuine way to post honest recommendations.

The issue I have is with the process of trading recommendations. If I were to write a recommendation for a friend with the sole purpose of getting a recommendation in return, what is that recommendation truly worth?

Nothing in my opinion.

So even though he should be recommended on the basis of his work, I can’t bring myself to do this for him if I’m just going to be playing a social networking “friend” game. His career deserves better treatment.

While I feel bad about not helping him out, I’m sure that this request went to many other people who won’t have the same conflict I do.

Do you play the recommendation game? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to leave a comment.

Related posts:

1. Gradversity is now on LinkedIn!
2. Lindsey Pollack’s LinkedIn Profile Advice
3. Don’t Be Lazy On LinkedIn
4. How One Man Found His Dream Job Through LinkedIn
5. 4 LinkedIn Mistakes – Have You Made One?

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