It’s nice to get a compliment every now and again. It’s good to know that the hard work and overly long hours you have been putting in have been appreciated. It’s even nicer when that compliment is glowing and it comes from an expert in their field. And it is particularly nice when that comment is shared as a Recommendation on LinkedIn.

My wife – who is the global web content manager for a Swiss firm in Geneva (effectively Head of Global Web Content if the Swiss used those kind of titles) – recently received a really impressive and genuine recommendation. It’s worth reading: “”Having worked on web content projects for almost 15 years, I have never come across a project of the size and complexity as this: thousands of pieces of content to be tracked, a new content management system, stakeholders from around the globe to coordinate, and dozens of copywriters and translators. Beverley (Brown) has managed this effort with grace and intelligence, produces high quality content, and on top of that, is an absolute pleasure to work with.” May 31, 2011. Cindy Blue, User Experience Lead / Project Manager, Roundarch worked directly with Beverley at SGS.”. It’s a well deserved comment about Beverley who has made a massive contribution towards the delivery of a complex project.

It got me thinking about LinkedIn and particularly the value of Recommendations. Cindy – who was the project leader for a US web dev agency used by Beverley – is a credible source of a recommendation. She worked with Beverley on an agency/client basis until her phase of the project was completed. Cindy works for a large and very well-regarded US web development firm which again adds more weight to her words. The Recommendation isn’t (at this time) reciprocated, which suggests that there was no bartering or trade-off involved. The one-way recommendation indicates that these words were freely given. So, above and beyond the nice warm feeling it engenders, does this LinkedIn Recommendation have any value to Beverley?

We are living in the reputation economy. Reviews, unsolicited comments in blogs, forum discussions and social network sites all matter to businesses – and to people. Recruiters and HR departments crawl all over LinkedIn and similar sites to glean insights into a candidate’s suitability for a role. I know of some companies that even trawl personal Facebook pages to see what kind of person they might be letting lose inside their firm. So logic dictates that a Recommendation on LinkedIn should have some value.

A few years ago I set up an independent and impartial holiday cottage review website called MyCottageHoliday.co.uk. It’s been a reasonable success with around 5,000 UK properties and thousands of cottage reviews left by holidaymakers. I get great feedback from owners who tell me that the reviews often contribute significantly in the guest’s decision making process. Because holidaymakers can add a cottage to our system if it not already listed I occasionally have to field an irate phone call from an owner demanding that we remove the comment and claiming that the review is going to bring down their business. Of course we take this seriously and take whatever steps we must to ensure fair play. Once things are resolved I ask the owner if they would like to list their cottage themselves. The benefits include a more comprehensive description, links and contact details, a picture, automatic notification of new reviews and so on. I’m still staggered when the owner declines. Apart from the fact that we offer this for no charge, the most normal reason for refusing is something along the lines of “we don’t think reviews matter”. That’s odd – reviews mattered a few minutes before when one comment about the rickety furniture was going to put you out of business! So I know from first hand experience that online reviews matter and most of us in digital marketing know they matter too.

Coming back to LinkedIn then. Do I believe that Recommendations on LinkedIn matter? yes. Do I believe that they influence employers and recruiters? Yes. Am I convinced that all LinkedIn Recommendations are equal? No. I have no scientific reasons for believing this – I can just share with you my reactions to recommendations when I see them on a LinkedIn profile:

- Quantity. I’ve been on LinkedIn a long time. In my work I meet a lot of people and I like to think I do a pretty good job (just yesterday I received this completely unsolicited comment from a client “I wouldn’t want to do a pitch without you any more!”). But I only have a handful of LinkedIn Recommendations. If I come across a profile that is chock full of nice comments I get suspicious. We could be looking at a Recommendation Farmer.

- Reciprocation. I’ve noticed that some people with a hat full of recommendations often dish out as many as they receive. This makes me suspect that there is a certain amount of bartering going on – a you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. In Beverley’s case I’d like to think that she could give Cindy Blue a recommendation back if she deserved one (and by all accounts she’s shit hot at what she does). After all, LinkedIn is a social network and this is how it should function. But if each and every recommendation had a reciprocal comment ……. it just lacks credibility somehow. Mind you – if someone makes a nice comment about you and you don’t give one back, are you suggesting that they are too weak to deserve one and thereby committing a new social faux pas? We’ll see how that develops.

- Relationships. Who left the recommendation? Are they all colleagues? Do they all work for you (or are they dependent on you for business)? Some recommendations are easier to garner than others. So I look out to see if the glowing reference is coming from (a) a credible individual who is (b) well connected and (c) not likely to be making the recommendation for anything other than a genuine reason. I like to see recommendations from all angles – from the persons boss and their staff; from their colleagues and from suppliers; from industry specialists and from people outside the sector.

- Source. I give more credence to a comment from a credible industry source than to the persons family members. When a well connected and well respected individual makes a recommendation, it’s normally worth noting. After all, they are posting their reputation alongside that recommendation.

- No Recommendations. We all live in the digital world. Most people I come into contact with on a day to day basis are intimately involved in the digital space. If they don’t have ANY recommendations, that says as much about their sensitivity to the importance of social and business networks as any recommendation might.

- Givers & Takers. Tis better to give than to receive. A well balanced, socially sensitive, generous person is probably making more recommendations than they receive. Not just reciprocating, but recommending people who haven’t recommended them [note to self - sort this out]. Just a feeling I have, but someone who has freely issued a number of considered and helpful reviews to people with no obvious hope of anything in return might be quite a good person to deal with?

- Recommendation or Resume? A more subtle point perhaps, but you can tell a lot about a person by the way they write and by the content of their recommendation. I’ve often looked at LinkedIn Recommendations left by someone to get a feel for their style and approach. Some recommendations are staggeringly badly written and illogical. While others are little works of literary genius.

- One Voice. Closely related to the above point. Have you ever scanned someones recommendations and noticed – or just got the feeling – that they all have the same voice? A little like a Grey’s Anatomy script, every person leaving a recommendation seems to speak in the same way. Why might that be? I’m all for asking people who are going to recommend you to leave a comment that will help build a coherent picture of your skills, but writing all your recommendations yourself (and then perhaps getting your staff to add them to your profile!)? Not sure it’s a good plan.

So, back to Cindy’s recommendation of Beverley. Is it a lovely, flattering comment? Yes it is. Is it also credible and useful to people who might be considering working with or employing Beverley? I would say so. It’s one of just a few recommendations, so Beverley is not a farmer; it’s not reciprocated (which is no reflection on Ms Blue); there’s no obvious relationship, so no reason why Cindy would feel compelled to give a recommendation for anything other than a genuine reason; Cindy is clearly a very credible industry expert whose reputation is on the line if she recommends a dud; Beverley has recommended some other people already, so her approach to recommendations seems plausible; and finally, the tone of voice is very clearly different for both comments she has received. Given that Beverley’s line of work is copy-writing, she’s either very versatile (and therefore employable) or these are genuine and spontaneous comments. I know her quite well, and I can assure you that in this case they are genuine. But I won’t always be here to corroborate LinkedIn Recommendations for you.

Do LinkedIn Recommendations have a value? I think it’s clear that they do. Are all recommendations made equal. Very evidently not. Common sense and a pinch of salt are required ingredients when considering these bon mots. Now I’m off to send out some “spontaneous” and generous natured recommendations to balance my books a little!