SocialMinder Alpha: threat, or menace?

I received an email from a trusted friend offering a free invitation to the “closed” alpha test of a application called SocialMinder that’s supposed to map emails to my Linkedin network and provide some analysis and intelligence. I signed up,then let my friend know I’d done so. He immediately responded that SocialMinder had spammed his address book without authorization, so if you got a request from me to sign up for the service, ignore it. It appears to be either a scam or a severely broken alpha. I received an “action report” after signing up, and all the links in the email were broken (“502 Bad Gateway”). I tried to log in at the site, same error message. It appears to be working for some people, but until I see it, I can’t recommend it – and I haven’t authorized the site to contact anyone in my behalf.

Author: Jon Lebkowsky

Co-wrangler of Plutopia News Network, cohost Radio Free Plutopia. Podcaster, writer, dharma observer, enzyme. Former editor/publisher, FringeWare Review; associate editor at bOING bOING and Factsheet Five; writer at Mondo 2000, 21C, Wired, Whole Earth Review, Austin Chronicle; sub-editor at Millennium Whole Earth Catalog; blogger at Worldchanging. Digital culture maven, podcaster, writer, dharma observer, enzyme. On The WELL, Cohost of VC (virtual communities), Media, and Civil War (.ind) conferences. View all posts by Jon Lebkowsky