The Weekly Post

Librarian blogger Meredith Farkas ponders social networking software etiquette in this post. Farkas frequently gets friend requests on Facebook, LinkedIN, Flickr, and Twitter from people she doesn't know. She wonders if she'll be offending them if she declines the requests.

I’m curious about how other people deal with this. Do you add everyone who adds you regardless of whether or not you know them? Do you add people you don’t know? If someone doesn’t add you, does it hurt your feelings? Do you think the term “friend” in these social networks has meaning if you add people you don’t know at all? I don’t know that people add certain people because they’re a “status symbol” to have on your list, as Sarah suggested. I assume it’s because they are interested in the person or think highly of them. It’s like subscribing to someone’s blog. Only it really does complicate the whole vetting process if you really don’t know the people who you’re affirming as your friend.

I really do think that these tools will stop being meaningful if people friend folks regardless of whether they know them, respect them (in the case of LinkedIN), or find them interesting (in the case of del.icio.us). But I, too, feel the draw to add everyone who adds me because no one wants to hurt someone else’s feelings. Oh what a tangled Web!

Here's one question that didn't come up — how should companies or media organizations use social networking services? Seven Days has a profile on MySpace with 500+ friends. But how exactly do we use that network? I don't want to use it to spam people with stupid comments or bulletins, but I feel like there has to be a way to use it to let people know about important stories they might have missed.

Any suggestions?