How do you use LinkedIn?

[xela]

So, how do people use LinkedIn? I only send invitations to people I actually know and have had, in some sense, a work relationship with; I only accept invitations from such people, or from people the quality of whose work I consider myself to be reasonably well-informed about, via their reputation among our shared friends.

My rationale is that, if Zoe gets in touch with me saying there's a job at Yves' company she's interested in, and could I introduce her? I want to be able to honestly tell Yves either that I know Zoe's work first hand, and she's excellent, or that I know her work's reputation, and it's excellent.

This means I decline (or simply don't respond to) around 20% of the invitations I receive. But I keep hearing that the point of LinkedIn is to expand your network as much as possible. Am I being too conservative?

Comments

[bluedaisy.livejournal.com]

I don't think you are being too conservative. I accept invitations from people I know in a work context or whom I know well socially---including in "work" those I've seen do volunteer work or other large tasks that reveal their work ethic to potential contacts. My ability to help Zoe will be different if we worked together for years vs. were in the same chorus, but I will still be able to say *something* valuable about Zoe.