Real Talk: Did LinkedIn Play Dirty With This One?

Recently I wrote a blog post about an email LinkedIn sent out to its members with the most viewed LinkedIn profiles in 2012 and I noticed a bit of backlash to my post with people commenting that they were not so impressed with this move from LinkedIn.
Let’s start by calling a spade a spade: it was a brilliant marketing move on LinkedIn’s part.
Some people felt duped knowing that 20 million people got a similar message but I say so what? We all employ various forms of marketing to woo our target market and as long as it’s honest and truthful, what’s the harm?
Here are some opinions from Twitter:
Congrats, LinkedIn – for appealing to my ego… it worked :ptechcrunch.com/2013/02/18/app… via @techcrunch
— Adrienne ♥ (@TheHeinster) February 18, 2013
I know there’s 2 mill in the 1% but still chuffed 🙂 I have one of the top 1% most viewed @linkedin profiles for 2012. linkedin.com/pub/profile/0/…
— Michelle Beckett (@MichelleBeckett) February 11, 2013
Hurray! I have one of the top 5% most viewed @linkedin profiles for 2012. linkedin.com/pub/profile/1/… – 1 in 10 million makes me feel special 🙁
— Kemal Danisman (@danisman) February 11, 2013
I just got this email from LinkedIn – I have one of the top 1% most viewed profiles. That’s me & 1,999,999 others. 🙁 ow.ly/i/1uAwY
— Costas Papaikonomou (@grumpyinnovator) February 8, 2013
I DO NOT have a linkedin profile!!!! I don’t even know what that is….yet they email to say I have one of the most viewed profiles.
— Sheriza Mohammed MD (@sheriza_m1987) March 4, 2013
Despite some of the negative comments, I found most people responded rather positively with many of my connections sending me excited emails before I even knew what the craze was all about (I had yet to receive my email from LinkedIn at the time).
Watch the video below where I discuss this week’s topic on Real Talk, a weekly segment that focuses on candid discussions surrounding various controversial news in the social media marketing world.
I know that there are others who don’t feel the same way as I do so I wanted to ask you directly to share your thoughts. Was this an uncool marketing trick by LinkedIn or do you think people who are complaining lack reasonable justification?
Let me know in the comments below or join us at our LinkedIn group to share your thoughts.