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In recent months I have been observing a rather unnerving trend. People just asking for things, rather than adding value or trying to pay forward, especially on social media.
Almost every day I get invitations to connect on LinkedIn and while I try to screen as much as I can, without prejudging, there is a considerable number of people who want to connect with the sole purpose of selling stuff. And by that I mean that as soon as I hit "accepted" I get a solicitation. Rather irritating......
It's become really bothersome and today, given the holiday spirit I decided to write about it and to ask everybody who is part of this business network to be mindful and considerate.
There is nothing wrong with using LinkedIn or other social media platforms for business purposes, but everything wrong with just connecting in order to push an agenda.
And that is what's been happening. Social media members not taking the time to research, analyze or pre-qualify. It seems that there is a large group of the business people just looking for key word matches and then, instead of building a relationship first, immediately pushing their service, whether it's a match or not.
What happened to paying forward? To being considerate? To adding value first?
Thanksgiving is a holiday where we should take a step back and be grateful for what we have, and I am. I am grateful for the ability to connect with people all over the world.
Just last week I had a meeting with a person who had reached out to me (after researching my background and determining a fit) during my visit to Vienna and after we arranged a conference call we realized that we were both in Vienna at the same time (her living there and me visiting), so we had coffee together. Once of those lucky coincidences where social media is a blessing.
So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, let's be more mindful, more considerate and let's pay forward a bit, without driving our own agenda.