Fishbowl: Professional Network

I’d tired this app, because I saw it advertised only from free job guru instagram influencers (first red flag, I know). Figured this would be a dope alternative to LinkedIn; turned about it was actually the sinister alternate version of LinkedIn. The first account I created, I was just trying to get it started and made the mistake of adding the company I currently work at as a temp. Tried to change the company name and title; I not only couldn’t change the company name, but they also kept changing my title, which really annoyed me, because it’s not what I do long term! So after not hearing form support, I deleted and created a newer account. Added my side business, and correct title as a writer. Woke up the next money and they changed all my main information! They shortened my name, changed my title, and changed my company name to the one I was temporarily working for! They somehow pulled my information faster than the FBI, and created something THEY thought I should have. I understand this is a professional space, and I know how to move accordingly, but you have to be kidding me; pulling and adding someone’s information with asking them? And not letting them change it to what reflects the current and desired professional profile and journey. The account fishbowl forcibly gave me, did not reflect me at all! While a legit app; this app is borderline scary on how it gets and changes your information. Be careful what you put on here, if it’ll even matter (they just find and post it for you lol).

I absolutely love the app and the concept. Gives out a lot of information which you can’t get otherwise. My only struggle has been the font size and slow performance. Hangs at least thrice a day. But most importantly, it’s too small of a font to type and keep reading long articles. I moved to iPad but the font remains the same. You should come out with a web version for better readability and better engagement of the audience. Just my two cents. Update: I have major concerns with their reporting function. There is no transparency and you never know what you get reported for. They just revoke your access for messaging which is a bummer. I would appreciate if the team is transparent on red flags and warns early than revoking the access without any notice. Update - the customer support is not responsive and doesn’t give valid and transparent answers. After providing so much information to people, it’s practically useless if you can’t make full use of it. The app can do much better.

I don’t particularly WANT to write a poor review for Fishbowl because I’ve historically enjoyed this app and think it’s generally a decent social media platform for professionals working in similar functions to me. That said, I feel I have to point out how poorly automated and moderated this app is. First, the automation. Every profile-related thing you do goes under manual review. You want to join Fishbowl by submitting your profile? Manual review. You want to change your title? Manual review. Almost every process that seems like it should be automated in some form for an app of Fishbowl’s size must pass through the moderation team. The moderation team is not quick to respond, either. I found I would wait days or weeks before finally contacting support to streamline the process. I’ve seen complaints of even longer waits posted to Reddit. Second, the moderation. I noticed a comment below about being automatically banned or shadowbanned on Fishbowl as a result of less than a handful of reports, and have to echo this as a major issue of the app. The biggest problem at this point is some toxic users are aware of how to game this system, and actively abuse it. This results in a cycle of normal, friendly users being shadowbanned for fighting back against trolls/bullies and innocuous posts being removed.