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I recorded this vid after noticing a spike in the following behavioral pattern:

• Step One = Agency employee gets PROpenMic account.

• Step Two = Agency employee sets up PROpenMic profile.

• Step Three = Agency employee screams WE'RE HIRING!!

There was even one case (since deleted) where the "opportunity" was an unpaid internship. Robert French, who has revealed himself as an expert at policing community norms with a steady-yet-light touch, guided the offender toward right thinking.

If this behavior from companies is not discouraged, I fear that the students on this network will simply be treated as a piece of meat, and avoid it.

Sam Whitmore, one of the smartest advisers to tech PR pros that I've encountered, has a kind of parable-of-the-pickup-truck that he treats audiences to when he speaks about online community engagement. As anyone who has owned a truck knows, there's a certain class of acquaintance that only calls you for one thing — to borrow the truck. Over time, if that relationship remains that crassly transactional, you stop listening.

The fact is, there's more that a company can be doing in this network, besides offering a job, that the community would find of great value.

Companies should start there, rather than with their own near-term recruiting goals.