Bar for social media connections

This article talks about my stance for sending and possibly receiving connections on linkedin and facebook.

I’ve come across linkedin in connection requests from totally anonymous people and I’ve also sent connection requests to totally anonymous people.

Frankly, what I notice today that, it doesn’t do anyone any good. Neither know why we’re connecting. Its like following on facebook or twitter.

It just doesn’t make sense anymore.

I want to adopt a new method of sending requests.

There is almost always a reason for a linkedin request, It could be a way of opening a communication channel, improving your feed, network strength, network value or something else entirely.

I shall convey to the person what blew my mind about them which has lead to me sending this connection request. Ensure it is personalized. Write to them letting them know what this connection means. It is no longer social network signalling. I, whole-heartedly want this connection to mean something.

With every connection I make on linkedin, twitter or on facebook, I extend an offer to help. In most cases I wouldn’t know right away where and what we’d be helping each other with, but if we do connect, henceforth, it’d mean either of the two things, I think you’re awesome at what you do and I’d love to know more and help; You think I can help or add value to your life, network, professionally or something along those lines.

In which case I shall be explicitly clear in sending requests with an agenda of what you could expect this relationship formed over a connection on linkedin could mean.

After all social media signalling is so old school.

I no longer want to make relationships that aren’t meaningful.
It doesn’t add value to anyone.

I do not want to impose this structure on anyone, but it is certainly one that I’d like to follow. Its your choice to send requests with or without an agenda or a framework as to how this relationship develops.

If we already know each other through some other common meetup or have met in person and already know the value we bring to each other’s life, then an introductory note isn’t necessary, I think.

Facebook is solely for personal reasons. I don’t intend to have or be friends (on facebook) with someone I have never met unless its through a mutual friend or some other personal incident over the course of a lifetime.

I don’t see myself bragging over how many friends I have on facebook anymore. More people imply higher noise ratio and I’ve recently chosen to prefer quality over quantity.

Twitter and medium doesn’t really make a difference to time consumed since following is a personal choice and I have nothing to do with it.

I intend to implement this model going forward, in which case everyone that part of my network from the old model has officially been grandfathered to the older model.

Cheers!