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Look who's looked in on Jim McGuinn on LinkedIn

by Jim McGuinn

August 05, 2014

jim mcguinn smartphone linked in
Jim McGuinn receives an unexpected invitation from the LinkedIn social network.
MPR photo/Luke Taylor

Just in case anyone doubted my creed — er, cred — take a look at this mysterious invitation I received via LinkedIn this week …

Does anyone really understand LinkedIn? I signed up a few years ago to try to find a former co-worker and have rarely signed back in, but I still get asked to link to people quite frequently. Normally, it's with people I know, and I generally say yes. The other day though, I was shocked to get this emailed to me:

What does it mean? Does Scott Stapp, the former lead singer of the band Creed, actually know who I am? If so, does he think that linking to me will somehow help redeem anything he's done the past 10 years?

And if not, why did LinkedIn Robots (because only robots could make this connection) decide to put us together today?

I worked in radio in the '90s and played some Creed music on the radio, but I didn't like his music. I've never met him. Does this mean there's something about my profile or other connections that means we belong together? Whoa. The mind reels.

So what should I do? Should I accept his invitation to connect?

What are some unexpected LinkedIn (or other social media) invitations you've received? What did you do?