Ask The Business Lawyer

Here's one of my pet peeves about sites like Facebook: people who hardly know me who want to join my network and, by inference, gain my endorsement. I can't tell you the number of people whom I may have met in passing at a networking event, or who called me from a six-degrees referral to pick my brain, and then want to join my LinkedIn network. Why?  So they can cherry-pick through my trusted contacts, which I have spent time nurturing and cultivating?  In the non-cyberspace world, I don't really make referrals to people I haven't at least spent some time getting to know. And the ones I spend more time with tend to be the ones I recommend more often.

So think carefully about your alliances and referrals -- even in a seemingly casual situation like Ryze, or Facebook, or any of these other social networking sites. Before you add someone to your list, make sure you know them and are happy to make the connection. Pre-screen them so that your network is a solid one. Otherwise, don't be surprised when you find -- frankly -- crap from other people's networks.