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Comment by nxsynonym | Hacker News Reader

I too am curious about how they will define LinkedIn.

From a mannerism/general code of conduct - I agree that it should be treated like an office or work-related event.

Legally - it's a weird stance. If it's a direct extension of your workplace what will that mean for NDAs and corporate policies? Do they "own" the rights to all information you post while working there? What happens when you move on?

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The owners of an office building or event venue don't get any of those privileges either, and yet the office and work-related events are unambiguously governed by workplace rules. The fact that LinkedIn is not your employer doesn't seem like a big problem.

Sort of - LinkedIn may combine things from different employers or seeking of a new employer, which your current employer may not at all approve of. So you can't really apply workplace rules to it directly.

You could say the same thing about hallways in an office building with multiple tenants, but I don't think it's legally ambiguous whether propositioning your coworkers outside the restroom is more appropriate than doing it in the office.

Definitely - heck, you could argue any interaction between coworkers like that could impact the job.

Just that many other such interactions that occur on linkedin might not, so job rules really don't apply just because it's work related but more because you're dealing with a coworker.

I disagree strongly. LinkedIn's primary purpose is connecting talent with people who want to hire that talent. Spending my work time looking for a new job would be bad. Recruiting people for a new venture I'm starting while at a work event would also be bad. Doing either of these on linkedin is more than acceptable, it's the whole point.

If you are using a company account under which you represent the company, you presumably are doing things the company wants -- such as recruiting others to come work for that company. You also are subject to the company's policies, just as if you were interacting with someone in the office.

None of this should be surprising to anyone.

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