I can’t even begin to count how many Facebook friend invites I’ve gotten that are from people I don’t know. What bothers me about these invites is that 99.9% of them are not personalized! And guess what happens when I get this type of invite from a stranger? I ignore it. I actually have a “Friends Policy” posted on the info tab of my profile and it reads:
RE: FACEBOOK FRIEND REQUESTS…
Effective social networking is all about building relationships. Therefore, I only accept friend requests from people I already know or people who take the first step in developing a relationship by adding a personal message to their friend invite. It only takes a few seconds to write how you found my profile or why you want to be FB friends or how you think we could help each other.
If you are primarily interested in reading the tips I post on using social networking sites for business, you have the option of “Becoming a Fan” of my Business Fan Page at: http://facebook.com/SocialNetworking4Biz. Fans receive blog posts & status updates in their News Feed as well as “Fans Only” specials.
I checked with a few of my Facebook friends to see how they handle “non-personalized” friend invites from people they don’t know:
- One friend said she will only accept a friend invite from a stranger if they are already connected on Facebook to one of her family members.
- Another said she “ignores” this type of invite.
- Another said she “ignores” this type of invite AND that she posted a Friends Policy similar to mine after reading my Facebook For Business e-book.
The bottom-line is if you truly want to connect with someone on Facebook, you stand a much better chance of having your friend invite accepted IF you send the other person a personalized message AND have a legitimate reason for wanting to be Facebook friends.
Do you have a Friends Policy? How do you handle non-personalized invites from strangers?
Your Facebook Informant,
Kimberly Yow
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