Thanks to The Virtual Handshake for sharing the news that LinkedIn has made it easier for people to connect that you know and harder to connect with people that you don't know. It has become easier to connect because you don't need an email address anymore to send an invitation. At the same time, if you are invited to join someone's network and you don't know this person, then you can indicate that you don't know the invitee.
I personally like the option to indicate that you don't know the person. From time to time, I get asked to join someone's network who I don't know. I don't accept these invitations because it doesn't add any value to my network. If you don't know someone, how are you going to make a referral or ask for an introduction? You have a lot more weight when you know the person.
Whenever I get one of these invitations and the person is in Chicago, I always ask to meet in person before I connect. See my prior post Face-to-Face Communication Still Works for more on this subject.
For The Virtual Handshake's post, go to LinkedIn Makes Major Changes in Invitations Policy.
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