A man for whom online professional networking is apparently a new and mystifying innovation has been thanking people who invite him to connect on LinkedIn.
The latest flub occurred last Thursday when Henrick Keller received just such an invitation from Anna Lakatos.
“Hello Anna, many thanks for your invitation to connect here in LinkedIn-land,” Keller wrote in a cringe-worthy message after accepting the request. “It’s always nice to have more local contacts who work in the same field.”
“I hope our paths will cross in the future, and I look forward to following your posts which seem to be engaging and relevant,” he added.
Upon reading the message, Lakatos, who sends dozens of such invitations per week and always without much thought, immediately blocked Keller, committed his face to her memory, and made a mental note to avoid him if she ever saw him in real life.
“I think he means well, but I don’t want anyone in my network who is so ignorant of basic LinkedIn etiquette,” she said. “Accept an invitation, send no response, and only reach out if there’s a fucking good reason to do so.”
A House of Training spokesperson has confirmed the organization will try to teach such skills to future participants, but they added that for people like Keller, there is little hope.
“Maybe this guy would be better off living in a technology-free environment like a monastery or a remote village in the Amazon,” said the spokesperson. “We just ask people to treat him gently. He’s still a human being with feelings.”
