LinkedIn Etiquette

I don’t mind people who I don’t know requesting to connect with me on LinkedIn. I do the same several times when I see mutual interests, similar profiles, learning potential and so on. But, I have the courtesy to write them a small note indicating why I would like to connect with them. It is important, else you connect with the person and neither you nor the person benefits from the relationship. You are merely another number in the “links” that they are forming and vice versa. Is that why you send invites to a person? Of course not.

There is a reason you chose to send the invite vs. not send it, so why not just mention it quickly in the box provided below? Also, the fact that we share a group in common is not good enough, since it is still very vague. I’ve written about this one time in the past too – LinkedIn Invite Rules and I’m going on record stating it again.

“Do mention a line or two about the common ground or why we should connect up, I really appreciate the thought!”

And hopefully, we will learn and benefit from knowing each other through LinkedIn or otherwise.

LinkedIn Invite Rules

I get LinkedIn invites from several people who might be making contact with me for the first time, who send an invite without a word on why we should connect! Not that they must have an earth shattering or life changing reason for it, but a word on how we hold common ground will help me connect with them better. Now, it is up to me to go look at their profile and figure out if they are interesting for me to connect with. Mostly, they are and I accept the invite but it would be great if the person who initiated the contact did the talking.

The reason why I bring this up is because if we were to meet a person for the first time, I’m sure we would not just say a hello and then start calling them an acquaintance, will we? We will introduce ourselves, we will get to know them a little, find common ground and once that is set, we establish the connection. In LinkedIn, since the bio is already there, groups are listed on the profile, blog, twitter you name it – stuff about the person is already there, we feel that the rules of introductions don’t apply! More so than ever, it applies in the digital world, because I don’t have anything but your invite to go by to make a decision to connect with you. That little box that LinkedIn so kindly offers to you to personalize your message is there to help you establish a connection over and above the “vanilla” I’d like to connect message!

Apart from the rules and etiquette point of view, if you stated clearly why you want to connect in that message or as a follow-up message after the invite has been accepted, it helps a lot. I’ve had instances where people have sent in very specific requests to me and we have established a very good rapport over time. It also helps to state the interest so I can mentally make a note and access/help you if something in your sphere of interest passes by me. I’ve noticed that very few people in India will send you a personal note whereas it is common practice if I get it from outside India. I’ve also noticed that very few people in India respond to a personal note in LinkedIn (they accept the invite but ignore the note mostly!).

So, long story short, do mention a line or two about the common ground or why we should connect up, I really appreciate the thought!

I’ve attempted to write this post several times and always shelved it in better judgement. In hindsight, I should have published it long ago! I’m looking forward to connecting with many more of you and knowing you better.

LinkedIn Spams Me!

Surprise, surprise!!! I’m getting spammed by LinkedIn Groups. I joined most of the groups on LinkedIn with the intention of gaining from discussions happening on various forums of interested professionals. However, it appears that people just use these forums to blatantly advertise themselves, ask really silly questions or network shamelessly.

Once in a while an interesting and good question comes by and makes it worthwhile to keep subscribed to the weekly newsletters at least – else, I would have switched off all notifications, by now – which is the whole point of subscribing to a group, right!

However, I’m surprised that we are not using the extensive professional manpower behind each of those groups to better use, than spam!