Linkedin instructs you to only invite people you know well and who know you. This practice leads to quality contacts; people who already know you and could connect you to someone through an introduction. There is an advantage of having quality contacts, but how quickly can you increase your connections if you only connect to people that you already know?
I'm only four months old in the social networking arena, and I admit that I've become less inhibited about requesting connections on Linkedin than when I started. I believe my Facebook participation has made me believe that anyone should be approachable. However, I do see the value in the Linkedin guidelines because it's more of a business oriented site. FB is driven by social etiquette, and Linkedin is driven by business etiquette.
Because of the business etiquette on Linkedin, I ignore the invitations from people who look like they are mass marketers. I think they are using the wrong networking service. Facebook has built more of a culture on quantity, and I like that you can follow anyone...ANYONE; your favorite author, your favorite tennis player, favorite artist (as a fan.) It appears to break down any barriers and brings the world together. Finding new people to connect with and reading their profiles, comments, etc is addicting too, but is it worse than vegging in front of a TV for hours?
I teach workshops that help people understand and acquire business networking skills. I start by defining stages of relationship building, and add that according to our research (Contacts Count program; 17 years of research) it takes about six contacts to get to know someone's character and competence. Hopefully this is done in person, but social networking sites can help us get to know someone....Help. We wouldn't want to substitute online communication with person to person communication, I hope. There is research from the Stanford University's Shyness Center that shows Americans are getting more shy- will the networking sites feed this trend by encouraging people to hide behind the computer screen?
Who would I recommend, or not recommend from a Linkedin contact? If I have never met someone in person, I might be able to see online activity that shows a sense of honesty, intelligence, politeness, and consideration (expressions used in writing, interests, work history, and how they contribute and help others.) Good character and competence are characteristics that I would think any hiring manager would like to see in a candidate. Interview questions can predict future behavior based on answers which show historical behavior, right? So wouldn't there be a good value attached to seeing someone on Linkedin who is proving to be a good source of information in their field? How quickly could I really learn about their character and competence and begin to trust them enough to go out on a limb and recommend them? It would depend on geography, groups and associations in common; frequency of contacts. Is meeting someone in person the deal breaker? Can I recommend someone based on their showing good character online rather than actually working with them? Can I assume the "all or nothing rule- if they succeed in their personal life they will succeed in their work life." Last point to make- if we network by teaching and giving, we can develop relationships both online and in person. Thanks for the first contact.
Susan