As most readers know, I’m an active member of LinkedIn.com and have made many connections there and lots of friends – old and new.
I recently received yet another invitation to connect from someone I don’t know and who obviously hasn’t read my profile. It amazes me that people won’t look to find out a bit about the person they’re sending an invitation too, and in most cases, the invitation is one of those generic, unedited invitations that blatantly show the sender is more into collecting numbers rather than true connections. Although, in some cases, particularly when I see their network is less than 20, it can indicate they’re brand new and are still learning, in which case I often give them some pointers and suggest they come to this blog to read the LinkedIn category for tips.
The latest inviter responded to my question of why he wanted to connect with:
Networking is getting connected with people whom you don’t already know which is the point of linkedin. Whats the point of networking with people you already know…
I asked him if he had read the rules? 
LinkedIn actually tells people they should only be connecting with people they know personally and besides, networking is all about relationships – it’s not about numbers, it never has been.
It did make me wonder who he had been listening to though, before he sent a blanket invitation to someone he doesn’t know. And without even reading my profile (which might have saved him some trouble if he had read it). There is a school of thought to connect first and get to know later, and then there are others like me, who like to be wooed just a bit, simply by letting me know they’d read my profile, or had seen me somewhere and was interested in knowing more about what I do and could we connect? And in that invitation they should also tell me something of themselves.
The majority of people I’ve connected with have been those I’ve gotten to know through LinkedIn discussion forums, or via Answers, when they have seen my response to something, or I have seen their’s. Perhaps they answered a question I asked and they helped me. Perhaps we were involved in something else together. Or perhaps someone they know also knows me and have forwarded an introduction.
If people are more interested in growing numbers rather than growing relationships, you have to wonder why they’re in the networking game in the first place. I mean, how does it benefit them?
I’d much rather a smaller number of true connections, people I’ve gotten to know, rather than a large number of people I know nothing about and most likely never will. How about you?
Tags: LinkedIn, Networking by Kathie Thomas
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