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

[narya.livejournal.com]

I look at it from the other direction. The question I ask myself is "Do I know Zoe well enough that I would give her an honest answer about what it's like to work with Yves?". I don't really worry about what I tell Yves about Zoe - I don't find that I'm using up much of my recommending capital if I say "A friend of a friend was interested in your company so I said I'd pass the resume along though I've never directly worked with her".