Linkspam: Harbinger of the death of social networking?

Every so often I receive an unsolicited connection request on LinkedIn, usually from someone overseas who seeks connections in the United States. That's not too bothersome because I can at least understand their motivation for connecting, and, frankly, as a businessperson, I can appreciate their attempts to extend their professional network. Typically I reject the connection and will instead invite the sender to communicate with me about their needs and interests.

This morning, however, I received an invitation to connect from another Yahoo 360 user, someone who from all appearances has only one thing in common with me: we're both using Yahoo 360 in some manner.

In general, I expect that anyone I don't know who is genuinely seeking to connect with me either socially or professionally will have taken at least a few seconds to write a personal message, even "Saw you speak, and I'd love to connect" or "You have funny blog entries, we should network!" Fishermen know this and you'll rarely see someone tossing out a hook without some bait or a fly appropriate for the fish they're seeking to catch...

Continue reading about Linkspam: The failure of social networking and professional networking? at The Intuitive Life Business Blog.