I am loving the question and answer feature on LinkedIn. As I sit and ponder (I ponder a lot) I come up with these questions about work and life and I can pop the work questions into my LinkedIn questions and answers and get answers from my peers that I have accumulated on LinkedIn. As I have been spending more and more time on Social Networks like Facebook, linkedin, twitter, flickr. Plus enjoying blogs and podcasts and videocasts So I was pondering and wondering what do I do with all these new friends. Do I just add everyone that asks?

On my LinkedIn profile I made a Linkedin (at)grassshackroad (dot)com address so it would be easier to add me as a friend. But when some of these additions come in they were just the generic “add me” message from folks I didn’t know. No “I really wanted to meet you” or “hey thought we might have this in common”Thats where I wondered. Do these folks benefit me? It seemed to be almost spammy friends. (do I get credit for a new word?) Def. Spammy friends just add everyone and join up with anyone. Obviously if they are real good friends they will eventually rise to the top.
I asked my linked in contacts and this is what they said. (I left the names out to protect the innocent)

*As one who is actually a real friend I will answer this question. I have received no benefit from this site though I have also not attempted to use it for anything. It’s probably useful to people seeking new connections, looking for clients or jobs or in roads to new opportunities. That being said, I would not take any overture pressed on me through it as a serious proposal. I’m of an age and old fashioned enough that I still prefer a live interaction.

*Good question. I generally only “Link In” to people I’ve met face to face at some point.

*Hi Mike! I’m pretty choosy with whom I am a first degree link. I don’t link without a personal note and I’ve only invited a handful. My philosophy is that any first degree link should be a reflection of my personal “brand.” Hopefully that first degree link will also have reputable first degree links of their own and so forth.
LinkedIn might very well be more of a social network but one never knows what will come out of it, right? Also, as I have been learning more about search engine optimization, the more your name or business shows up in search engines the higher the ranking. Therefore, I am always looking for free listings to get ****** ranking up.
Marketing on the web is quite an interesting endeavor and…time consuming

*I don’t make a great deal of use of LinkedIn, so I’m not really even sure of the benefits. Haven’t had any work come my way, but I can’t imagine it hurts to have a lot of people at part of your network.

*I do not, simply because I would not be readily able to recommend, refer or introduce someone with whom I am not familiar despite having him or her in my immediate network.

*Good question… I don’t accept invites from people I don’t know. However, sometimes I wonder if I should exclude people who I wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend for jobs or freelancing. Fortunately that doesn’t come up often. But sometimes you simply don’t know if someone’s a worthy hire, even though they’re friends of yours.

*You are my piece of meat! xxoo I want to eat you! (disclosure line - my wife wrote this)

*I only accept invites from people I know. There is one exception – one person when I first signed up and did not really understand or appreciate Linked In. Also, I was embarrassed because I thought I might have actually met him at some point but forgot who he was.
When I get a generic invite, I am fine with it. I know that people are uploading their address books from many email addresses and have selected me because they want to keep in touch.

*You’re never a piece of meat in my eyes…go for the pissing contest, accept everyone!

My friends with 500+ or more linkedin contacts who answered:

*I appreciate your curiosity. I am actually fairly selective on who I ask to join my network based on their professional and educational background. I certainly do not think I will have an opportunity to meet everyone, but enjoy the network if the opportunity arises to meet or have a phone conversation.
I have already met several people by phone and a few that have been generous enough to take the time to get me in contact with someone that has business value.
Hope that helps. What type of people are you hoping contact you?

*I personally haven’t used LinkedIn as much as I probably could. I generally don’t accept people’s generic invites if I don’t know them directly, unless of course they may have a some sort of business alliance. I tend to think that the overall generic networking model is changing to something a little more personal. Like Facebook. Then again, like you said, this may be a broad conversation tool. I haven’t tried to use it for mass emails yet. Tell me how it works for you.

*I am somewhat selective in who I invite and whose invitations I accept. I also publish a email address prominently in my profile.

What I do, however, is clearly spell out in my summary and later in the lower contact info area, that I am only looking to connect in a handful of industries or with someone with ties to the Baltimore-Washington area. However, I get numerous invites from folks that don’t meet my broad standards, and I generally just let these fade.

I modify the generic invitation slightly to let people know that I basically inviting them to join a pool of industry related professionals.

*I add anyone who invites me. My view is that having a large network means if you ask for help, I might just have a link to the person you really need. I only write endorsements for people I love. Does that make sense?

Hmmmm

I think my new friend, community builder and all around mensch to the people Chris Brogan said it best here:

“We are at the heart of a social media and social networking revolution. And this might not be a money revolution, but it is most certainly a communications revolution. We’re now able to reach out to people, communicate

in a rich fashion, and build stronger relationships using these tools.”

I am going to add everyone who wants to be my friend. Just call me Spammy McAllen. Let them rise to the top if they are truly a friend and not a spammy friend.

Add me.

www.twitter.com/mmcallen
www.linkedin.com = linkedin(at) grassshackroad.com
www.facebook.com = mike mcallen
www.Ning.com + mikemcallen
www.flickr.com mmcallen

FYI I will be at the Podcast Academy Wednesday. Podcast and Portable Media Expo Thursday Friday and Saturday. I also will be at the Real Time with Bill Marher show Friday night. If you are in any of these places. Lets meetup and meet face to face.