Do You Make This Social Networking Mistake?

About 90% of the network friend requests that I receive have no introduction at all, and most of the others have generic notes like "let's be friends." The trouble is, I don't know who most of these people are.

Don't make this mistake when you send friend invitations. Be sure to introduce yourself—tell the other person who you are and why you want to connect. What interests do you share in common? If you know something specific about the person, say so.

On Facebook and many other networks, you can click the "add a personal message" button in the "add as a friend" box, and type in a personalized greeting. Here's an example of a friend request:

Hi Jason,
I'm a book marketing coach and I really enjoy reading your Writer's Life blog.
Warm Regards,
Dana Lynn Smith

Social networking isn't about trying to collect as many contacts as you can. It's about meeting and developing relationships with people who share common interests. Inviting friends the right way will increase your chances of making those connections.

Comments

[Derel]

If I received this message, Id' report you for spamming. Facebook is for keeping in touch with friends and family, not developing business contacts.

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Thanks for your comment Derel.

Facebook started out in 2004 as networking site for college students. The company quickly discovered that people were using social networking sites for business purposes, and over past couple of years they have added many features designed for business use. That has been one factor in Facebook's rapid growth. It's now the fifth most popular site on the internet, rapidly closing in on #4 MySpace.

Millions of people use Facebook to network with colleagues and potential customers, and it's ideally suited to entrepreneurs like consultants and authors.

But, I do think it's important for people to be selective about who they reach out to and to introduce themselves when inviting friends. That makes it easy for the recipient to decide whether to accept and it's just good netiquette.

Dana