By Krysty Wideen

Ok, most of us have been on LinkedIn for a while with varying degrees and kinds of usage. I think LinkedIn is a great tool to stay connected with people that you have had a professional relationship with and would like to stay connected with regardless of where they go. I know that there are many, many other purposes and uses, but I’m no expert on LinkedIn and that it how I primarily use it.

Lately, I’ve been getting invitations to connect with people I don’t know at all – never heard their name before and never met them. I have never been much of a LinkedIn “snob” or anything and I’m happy to connect with almost anyone; I think the power of the tool is in having lots of valuable connections through which you can solicit information and see what people are up to. That being said, I’ve been struggling to understand the value of having a connection with someone I have never met and know nothing about. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I usually like to learn something about someone before making the connection “official”. I’m not looking for arbitrary numbers of connections.

This is not a post intended as a rant. I’m honestly curious. Has anyone else noticed an increase in the number of invitations you have received from people you don’t know? What are the benefits of connecting with complete strangers? Are there disadvantages? Please, educate me!

In the meantime, my one request to people, in particular to those I don’t know, is to use the personal note box. Let me know your interest in connecting. Why me? Who are you? How do you use LinkedIn?

Krysty Wideen is a learning and organizational development consultant with The Refinery Leadership Partners, based in Vancouver. Her professional interest and expertise is in emotional intelligence, type psychology (MBTI), conflict, team dynamics, learning design, and program evaluation. An emerging practitioner in her field, Krysty is actively seeking new information, ideas, insights, and experiences and loves to share them with the online community through the BC HRMA and Refinery Leadership Partners Blogs.