Social Business Networking in Dayton
Author: Andy Hickey
August 2007
Does anyone else find social business networking awkward? The sending of invitations reminds me of middle school note passing and I don’t mean in a good way. However, social networking—MySpace, Facebook, etc.-- has been huge in business this year and I took the plunge. Now, I’m seeking advice.
I have been using LinkedIn for a few months and it is gaining momentum among users in the Dayton region. I have received an increasing amount of invitations and noticed that the networks of people connected to me are growing rapidly. For example, LinkedIn reports that 2,222 people have been added to my network between July 16 and July 19 (I assure you that those are friends of friends). I now have 141 new connections in New York City alone, which is amazing because the one person I know in New York City is not even on LinkedIn. The web of connectedness can be a little frightening.
I first read about LinkedIn in February. The article pitched LinkedIn as a way for California start-ups to connect to VCs and the benefit of the network was very easy to see, you get to see whom your contacts know. Even in Dayton, you cannot know everyone, but we are all three connections away from each other. (No, I do not have proof of that.) If you need to contact someone that you do not know, you can either ask a mutual contact to make an introduction or simply reach out.
See, I am writing this because I am curious if social networking makes other people uncomfortable too. What do other people think about going from passing notes saying “Will you be my friend?” to “Alana, I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn? Andy.” The first way was a lot friendlier.
How proactive should a network be?
I have never turned down an invitation because the Greater Dayton IT Alliance is the Switzerland of IT in Dayton and accepting invitations seems Swiss. But the preeminent question of protocol for 2007 is: Who do you invite to be a part of your network and whose invitation do you accept? Rob Pegoraro of the Washington Post wrote, “denying their friend requests outright -- in effect, saying "I don't know you" -- doesn't seem an appropriate response to this situation.” Pegoraro’s point is that while social networking leads to people saying yes, you are in my network or no, you are not, we actually have degrees of closeness in our business relationships that the social business networks do not reflect. Therefore, we accept everyone’s invitations.
My next question of protocol is, if you have a second connection to someone, do you need to make a direct connection to him or her? I have a connection at Company A and my contact is connected to almost everyone that I know at Company A. It is just not worth the annoyance to bring everyone I know at Company A even closer into my network. But on the other hand, maybe I should be expanding my network as aggressively as I can.
Therefore, I am still looking for experienced advice on social networking. My next step is to send an invitation to join my 20 year-old intern’s network.
If you would like to give Andy advice on business social networking, connect to Andy Hickey’s LinkedIn network, or discuss how the Greater Dayton IT Alliance can help your company, please email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
