Who do you accept connection invitations from?
Up to now my "social media policy" for linked in and facebook has been that I only accept friend requests and connection invitations from people I've met in real life.
When I get a request from someone I haven't met I usually try to respond with something to the effect of "I've decided to only accept requests from people I've actually met, however, I'm sure I'd like to meet you. We should make that happen." Some people are totally fine with this, and I have met them later and then accepted their invitations. These are usually people I would have met anyway. I think it does kind of annoy some people though.
With Twitter on the other hand I clearly can't stop people from following me, and I certainly follow many people I haven't met, or who I have since met directly as a result of twitter. I don't know if this is why, but Twitter is actually my favorite of the social networks.
So what do you do? Do you accept invitations from people you don't know in person? Do you send invitations to people you don't know in person? What is your thinking? Have any of these connections brought value to your life in any way (money or otherwise)?
Thanks for you time! Hopefully I'll figure out what to do with those 10 or so connection invitations sitting there.
Answers (13)
Dave M.
Professional trade show booth traffic builder and party entertainer. Corporate and private sector events.
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As an open networker and as someone who gets hired almost exclusively by folks and businesses I've never done business with, I accept invites from anyone and everyone, as by only connecting to those I know, I'm limiting my networking abilities...
Frank F.
►CEO/Bd Director ►IT Governance Advisor ►Future-Proof Strategy ►Keynotes ►Inno-Change ►Social Media Mktg ►China Advisor
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Only from those with whom I have a common interest,
or from whom I wish to learn from their expertise, or
with whom I have communicated and gotten to know,
or if there is future potential of mutual collaboration.
I focus on quality over quantity and only accept
maybe one-in-ten invitations.
Bernard G.
Programme, Project & Change expert
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On LinkedIn I follow the rules, which are only connect to those you know, either from outside LinkedIn or from getting into discussions etc with them here.
Greg P.
Audiovisual Services for Corporate and Special Events. Author.
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On LinkedIn, I accept only those with some kind of connect, real, face to face, or online, in business, via a group or via an email exchange. Some are virtual only.
I need to have some kind of relationship first, before connecting.
Raymond M.
Metallurgical Engineer and Statistician - Everything You Need To Know About Metals
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I usually accept those from people I know personally, have done business with, or have a group in common. I've found the groups in particular to be fruitful ground in meeting (at least on line) people with whom I have some professional interests in common, as this is one of the main reasons I'm on Linked In.
I'll make exceptions depending on circumstances.
My main purpose in being on Linked In is to find folks that might be able to make use of my consulting services, so I do what seems appropriate and useful in that regard.
Judy B. M.
Business WRITER | Editor | Blogger | Strategic MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS | B2B | Web Content Creator | BusDev
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If I receive an invitation from someone I don't know, I check out his or her profile. If I find it interesting or relevant, I will accept, but also message the individual to ask what prompted the invitation.
Mike A.
Cultural Transformation
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Personally, I'll accept a connection request from someone I don't know if they have an interesting profile and they've taken the time and effort, in the request, to explain why they'd like to connect with me.
Linkedin want you to limit your connections to "trusted relationships", and that can work very well, depending on what you want to achieve.
If you're looking for a job or selling B2B, and researching companies, people, prospects, then having a big a 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree network is absolutely key, otherwise the detail available to you when you search for people who work for a company is very limited.
This site is also a great tool for building a brand - there are "Open Networkers" with 30k connections who use this site as a highly effective marketing platform for themselves, which directly generates new inbound sales leads.
So, what do you want to get out of your Linkedin presence?
Michael M.
Dedicated to Working with Small Business Owners who are Committed to Getting the Best Results Possible
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The major benefit to online social networking is the ability to meet others you would never meet by chance in person. I personally don't use social networks much for conversing with friends/family because I prefer the phone/in person for that. I want to meet other people from around the world who I can do business with, get advice from, give advice to, etc.
Diňésh R.
► WE'LL HELP YOU ◄ deliver Defects Free Software ► HELP Improve your Software Testing Productivity◄
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Hello Terran:
Accept connections from the user you know.
Also accept connection from the user you think potential synergy, this can be done by reviewing the profile.
Cheers,
-Dinesh
Sahar A.
Diversity& Inclusion|Leadership training|Social Media Marketing|Social Media Training|Public Speaker|Culture Competence
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Terran:
Whatever works for me might not work for you and vice versa. This is a very personal determination that someone should make on their own
I personally network on LI so I van meet people I havent met in real life that I might never meet in real life, if not why be here?
My business can be global so if with the people I already know I got so far I can only go further if I extend my network
At the same time I dont just connect with everyone I make a professional decision first of I can add anything to that person or they can add anything to me but restricting yourself to the people you only know in real life why not use your rolodex, your phone and Email
Christine H.
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I usually accept invitations from those I have still to meet.
I currently send invitations very rarely and only to those with whom there is a compelling business reason to do so.
I have clients who began as connections.
Tirumalai K.
Principal Scientist at Sanofi Pasteur - VaxDesign Campus
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Hi Terran,
Other than the people I already knew/know in person, most of the people I have connected with on LinkedIn are ones I met on Q&A, people from all over the world with varied backgrounds, life experience and expertise, people whom I feel I'm richer for knowing. I feel Q&A is a great way to get to know people, by what and how we ask and answer questions. In this way, we start off knowing more about a person than would be possible by merely reading their profile. It's also possible we may have explored mutually agreeable points of view over ensuing conversations so we would be starting the connection not as complete strangers.
Kamala
