What do you use as your criteria for accepting friend requests here?

IIs it what someone does, or their activity? Something else? What makes you hesitant? 

Personally I find if a profile has virtually no information, I am skeptical and reluctant and unlikely to accept.

Are you ignoring these or rejecting the ones you don’t want outright?

@joanmuschampfagnani I agree with @karenataylor. I check out the Twitter feed or LI profile. Even on LinkedIn I do not accept all invitations, esp. if they use the generic connection request. I need to have a sense of who they are and if they fit with who I am. And I also accept friendships here more than on LI.

I look to see if they have at least some profile information filled out and will click through to some of their sites to give them a once over.

i quit accepting…..whats  the point?   .i like and  appreciate    reading  everyones  ideas on the  boards  etc, but  what  would  the   connection  bring?  ..  ….i accepted  at  first  but now i  dont….  ……. i enjoy  many on here on the  boards and  dont  mean  to  be  unfriendly……. and anyone  can message me if they want….

someone  from here is  trying to  friend me on  facebook….that  doesnt  feel  right either…. i  dont want to hear about  social media  from anyone else on my personal page.i already   have  2  or 3  that i picked…… talking about it  here is  great!!! 

really,  whats  the point?  

@joanmuschampfagnani I have one criteria for accepting friends, accept them all! 


Sounds shallow, but let’s be honest; the only real value of a “friend” in the technical sense is the 5 points. Not a popular answer to voice, but I guarantee I’m not the only one who feel this way. Not real “friendly” I know, but hey, that’s the way this Network is laid out. In fact I rarely look at profiles. Yeah, that’s right. I don’t look until someone contacts me directly, or I see someone who makes a great point in the threads that interests me enough to engage. 


Lets be frank, friendships here are not made by a friend button. They are made by conversations and genuine engagement. I don’t use this Network to create robot friends, not interested, no time. My relationships here are deeper and more meaningful than on any other network. Except of course my FB profile where all my life long friends are. But as for online acquaintances that I always take time to encourage, engage, and promote, This is the best place I’ve found. (But Empire Avenue is putting up a good fight) 

So now I can probably expect a rash outbreak of un-friends, and I deserve it. But I am just stating what many of us are thinking. @rich-brooks , you know what I am talking about. Oh, and as for “gaming” what does that really mean anyway? Ok so what is the best you can hope for in “gaming” this Network? Really what? It’s not like our posts gain some wall friendly preference like Facebook, There is no possibility for hangouts, and there is no where that is really private (lists, groups, clubs), aside from messages. So why game? I will tell you. Because there is a point system in place, and it has a rather lucrative prize for the top ten users. That’s right, your pearly whites on the Leaderboard. 


Hey, I’m not ashamed to admit that is one of my goals. Mind you, it’s not the only goal, but it is definitely one of my goals. I’m committed to maintaining my position there. Why? Because since I have been on the Leaderboard, Social Media Examiner sent me 69 visitors. 81% were new visitors, and I had a 55% bounce rate (which for church websites is a pretty decent number). Of those visitors, I have had 7 leads, 3 of which have converted to sales. 


I don’t know if the leads were sent because of the Leaderboard, because someone looked at my friend request (I send them to everyone, literally), or because I said something in a post that inspired the visitor to patiently wait for my profile to load, and to take the time to find my website link.  So again, I accept them all! 


And as for LinkedIn, the same there accept them all! Do you see the search bar in the upper right corner? You would be amazed to find out how many people use that to search for people to hire. And If you are connected as a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, your name will appear very high on that list. If we are not connected on LinikedIN, send me a connect request, then after we connect, type Website into the search bar. I can almost guarantee with 98% certainty my name will appear on your search results. Seriously, try it. send me a connect request and I will walk you through this scenario and prove to you how powerful this tool is. 

@kc_kreative Thanks for being honest! he he

And Yeah @rich-brooks What are you afraid of? 

@jasonwiser @rich-brooks

Keep in mind one other benefit of friend requests.  It is the only way to send private messages back and forth.  (exception is moderators and club leaders who anyone can private message)

@joanmuschampfagnani I do a quick scan of the profile. No picture, no intro statement, few or no links and no club activity = no acceptance. The “no picture” is my line in the sand for every platform…I’m also the contrarian that won’t like/follow/connect back unless the content the person is putting out appeals to me

I also respond to all PM’s. @joanmuschampfagnani

@casmccullough Thanks Cas! And the truth is this is one of the Greatest communities online! Welcome to the club!