The Jeff Pulver Blog: The “Obligations” of Social Networking

Link: The Jeff Pulver Blog: The “Obligations” of Social Networking.

Jeff Pulver has some interesting things to say about social networking as he comments about LinkedIn. By one of those "cosmic coincidences," this evening I attended the first meeting of Alaska professionals organized by a investment banker in town who is looking to build community amongst entrepreneurs in the state. And he is exploring LinkedIn as a tool to network Alaskan business people.

Those at the meeting had various levels of experience with LinkedIn. The investment banker would be considered a power user of LinkedIn by Alaska standards. A few people, like myself, have been using LinkedIn for several years. A few others would be considered newbies to the service, and they recently joined because of a recommendation from someone else in the room.

In his post, Jeff Pulver says: "What most people on social networks fail to recognize is that in real life 'an introduction is an endorsement' and yet it seems that strangers want me to forget about this in the virtual world and just make the introduction."

At the meeting this evening, someone suggested that you can pass along an introduction and qualify it - saying "I know this person and vouch for them" or "I have no idea who this person is and can't speak to their character but am just passing this along." This is true - so wouldn't this address Jeff's point?

My thoughts: If people are picking and choosing who they pass along, is this defeating the purpose of LinkedIn? If they are not being selective and passing along every request that comes their way, will they get a "bad reputation" as an introduction spammer?

One woman at the meeting this evening said she had over 700 contacts, and then she mentioned that she probably had made an attempt to link up with some of us. I explained that if I receive a request to link from someone I do not know, I am wary to add them if they have more than 500 contacts. It just makes me worry that they might be adding people indiscriminately.

Personally, I cannot see the value of having that many contacts through the site. Of course, in his blog post, Jeff Pulver said he "somehow" had 1245 connections. But even with all those "contacts," he doesn't seem to be saying he is gaining a lot of value from most of them.

Recently, I passed the 100 contacts mark. But I can honestly say that I personally know 100 of my LinkedIn contacts. Only about 10 of them have over 500 contacts, but again, I know those power users personally as well.

I wonder: Am I limiting my circle by being discriminating? Am I going about this whole LinkedIn thing the wrong way?

Rarely do I get requests for introductions from my contacts, but when I do, I almost always know both parties and am happy to pass along the request. I'm willing to help my contacts if they ask. I've only asked for their help on a few occasions, mostly to identify people for jobs I'm trying to fill.

When I request a link, it is most often to people who I've known or worked with in the past and just want to reconnect because we have lost touch. Nine times out of ten, my request is passed along and accepted. Because I know both the intermediary and the final recipient of my request to link.

I thought this was a good and "proper" use of LinkedIn. But is it? Am I totally missing the point of LinkedIn and failing to make the most of it?

Comments

[Laura Moncur]

Great entry! Personally, I just barely deigned to join LinkedIn. Since I'm self-employed, I didn't think I needed it, but it's a great professional networking tool.

This weblog talks a lot about what you're thinking about:

http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/

It's written by Jason Alba and he has a lot of ideas about career management and social networking.

[JibberJobber Guy]

Aliza, this is a really interesting, thought-provoking post about getting value out of LinkedIn... and it hits the heart of most debates centered around quantity vs. quality.

I don't think you are missing any point, I think that a lot of people ask "how do I get the most out of LinkedIn? That is one reason Scott Allen is putting together a group blogging project on LinkedIntelligence.com about it.

Thanks to Laura for mentioning my blog... a lot of the things you are talking about here, I talk about from a different angle (I call it unsocial networking).

Jason Alba
CEO - http://www.JibberJobber.com