Do you treat connection requests differently on Facebook and Linkedin? Do you maintain a managed separation between your personal and business social media worlds?
The Linkedin Group discussion favours you, but here’s what I wrote:
Not really, but also not completely the same. @adrienne’s point about functional use lies in the back of my mind, but not the forefront. Previously I was strict in connecting on Linkedin in, now I am not open but I accept a few wildcards. As far as “functionality” I might suggest to some people let’s try Facebook instead. On Facebook I used to be strict about “personal only” but I abandoned that some time ago. I don’t accept silly Friend requests or where I just can’t see the point but otherwise I’m very open, and all my information is open.
But here is a funny thing – these days I tend to expect less will come of new connections I accept on Linkedin than on Facebook, and I mean in the broadest sense of “expectations”. Facebook is extremely multifacted, while Linkedin still remains (not quite fair I know) a directory (in my mind).
On Twitter I accept more links more freely and then prune them more often as well. The investment to do that seems much less and the “connection” more of a chat than a “Friend” like meeting at the Gare du Nord while waiting for a train and keeping in contact for a while after that, and if it works, for longer.
As far as transparency and the upside and downside, yes I see the arguments but I take the view that with a bit of googling people will find out all they want about me good and bad anyway. As to the fashioning of the interactions to match the audience, I take that as just being part of the development of social norms in the environments where you are widely connected – to friends, business partners, mums, dads, daughters, prospects etc.
You know, I’ve reached the stage where when I research someone else, such as a speaker for a conference or an industry leader I’d like to follow, that if/when I find that they have a totally “private” Facebook page and have walled off their “private” and “business” in the social media that my first instinct, now, is to be perplexed.
How times have changed!