Lately, it seems that I am getting bombarded by requests to be added to this person’s network or that person’s network by people who I have no interest in networking with. It seems that people from as far back as my elementary school days – I went to Brophy Elementary School in Framingham, Massachusetts — have found me on LinkedIn and other social networks and want to be “friends.” Many of these folks are people I wasn’t friends with 20-odd years ago, so I don’t know why they want to be my “friend” now. Nonetheless, the requests continue to come.
Here is the problem: I don’t want to LinkIn to these people and become their “friends” and I bet I am not the only one who feels this way. If I wanted to be connected to them, I probably would have made an effort to find them before they found me. After all, getting in touch with people and talking to them is sort of what I do for a living. It is not that I am not curious about what is going on in their lives, how many cats they have, what they had for dinner or that their kids are now being toilet trained – OK, I am not curious about this or anything else about them. The problem, I have found, is that in an effort to not be rude I end up accepting these people into my network and becoming their “friends.”
Is this wrong? Perhaps it is not being social-network honest – I’m not sure that it is right – but nonetheless it is what I have been doing, so if you want to get in touch, find me on LinkedIn and we can connect – but please don’t tell me about your cats, eating habits or whether or not your kids are in diapers.
And now onto something important:
As the summer goes on, I am happy to tell you that we are getting ready for the HEDGEAnswers 2011-2012 Launch and Strategy Sessions. This is our sixth season and it is shaping up to be better than ever. I suggest that all of you click this link to register now and get in on the discussion.