I got a notice from LinkedIn that it removed my profile 'photo', as "...if your photo is not an image of yourself or does not contain an actual photograph, it is considered inappropriate. Your photo has been flagged for inappropriate elements and has been removed from your profile."

As LinkedIn grows, it seems to be less and less concerned for the realities in the lives of business professionals.  I can't stand the required and mostly unadjustable modules. I don't care one whit about semiconductor news or about events in turkey or those with my home state in the event title.  I find I use the site less and less, and am starting to look for alternatives. 

But this photo business really annoys me. It should be optional, and using it can in fact can be detrimental to careers. LinkedIn is trying very hard to be Facebook, but it shouldn't.  And more importantly, LinkedIn users should think at least twice before putting their pictures out there, especially if they're serial connectors. 

In part, it's a bit OCD, I know, since my profile is no longer considered complete, but the real issue is that LinkedIn is insisting that my profile couldn't possibly be considered complete without a picture.  In the era of eroding privacy, identity theft, and Deep Packet Inspection, I don't want to put everything about me out there in the open, even if I can limit the viewers to contacts only.  

Your picture can hurt you professionally, and actually reduce the opportunities LinkedIn might otherwise help you find.  Because suddenly it's not your credentials that are the first impression, but your picture. The human eye is drawn to images above text, so your first impression is about appearance.

If you don't think your image can be used against you, think again. 

Age, ethnicity, and appearance can and will be held against you, whether the viewer realizes they're doing it or not.  Including a photo makes it the first thing people will notice on your profile. Instead of your credentials winning over potential business partners or employers, your first impression is that photo.  If you aren't attractive to the person reading it, you just put another barrier or three between you and that opportunity, and needlessly.

The real damage is potential business relationships; people who don't know you can and will look at your profile and judge you, rightly or not.  There is real discrimination for being too young, too old, too ethnic, too happy, too serious, too fat, too aggressive, too smarmy, too much like their lousy ex boss or that direct report that still gives them nightmares years after they were terminated, whatever. 

It's not that LinkedIn hasn't educated people about the kind of pictures to use; they have.   But they fail to appreciate the downside of photos on a business professional site.

Do you want to be known for your skills and reputation, or how you look?  Unless you're a fashion model, I'd hope for the former.

And LinkedIn should know that.