To Recommend or not to Recommend - on LinkedIn

Dear Cybersorter,
Last year I moved to London. When my old company in Dublin recently went into liquidation, I wasn’t surprised.
One of my ex-colleagues asked me to recommend him on LinkedIn, the social network for business people. But I don’t know if this ex-colleague is mixed up in what went wrong. If I recommend him I worry I’ll be tainted with the company’s failure and I don’t really know all the facts.
But this person was loyal to me at the old job and I feel like I should help him. Should I recommend him or not?
AF

Dear AF,
Writing a recommendation on LinkedIn goes one step further than an ordinary one. All your contacts and theirs can see what you have written.
This is why recommendations on LinkedIn are more highly valued, and less easily given, than a To Whom it May Concern envelope.
In any recommendation, you can write only about what you know of the person.
You should give your ex-colleague benefit of the doubt. Business failure, especially in this climate, does not automatically denote wrongdoing.
It is sensible to be mindful of your reputation, but individual relationships are the building blocks of good reputations. If you believe this person is competent and of good character then you should say so.
Returning the loyalty shown to you is good – and also good business.