Social media requests -connect, reject or deflect?

People who use social media platforms to promote their brand, message or even their expertise can experience an unwanted, or perhaps inconvenient, outcome - 'the connector'.

Yes, another brand, person or business that wants to connect with you. That's not necessarily a bad thing. After all, isn't  'more followers', a wider audience & greater engagement, the things we all seek?

Of course, but I'm not talking here about that audience. I'm talking here about the person (we'll lump them all together)  who seeks to connect in order to sell you their wares, as if by connecting, you might suddenly become interested in buying or promoting their encyclopedias/vaccuum cleaners/ (or insert other useless products here).

In some cases, it might be an automated 'bot' follower that is trying demonstrate how valuable it is, or a social media 'whore' who needs a high following to feel good about themselves, irrespective of the topic or posting content.

In others, it might be the 'serial connector' who feels that the slightest tenous link or commonality gives them cause to want to access your LinkedIn network.

We all use different platforms in different ways, and often for different purposes, so who & how you connect with depends upon your needs.

For instance, I use Linked In as a tool to connect with interesting people that I've met & with whom I share a commonality with, & that perhaps I may be of service to, now or in the future.

In twitter, I follow thought leaders & brands in my specific topics of interest, as well as to use an information gathering service, which you could idetify from my ratio of following/followers (currently about 2:1).

For Facebook,  its more of a recent news & events platform for other people to keep up my latest project, as well as to engage & interact with them. I also use private groups for specifc topics,  like business partners, family & friends to connect & share with.

So the dillemma i often have is when I receive a connection request that is outside my 'parameters' eg the Linked In request from someone Ive never met. Or the spambots that autofollow you.

When you receive a request, what do you do? Ignore it? Respond with a polite 'thank you, no', or request more information? Do you 'block'?

Or do you graciously accept every request, and then never interact?

I imagine that the answer to how you handle each request comes down to the reasons as to why you that specific platform. Do you have strategy, or do you make it up as you go along?

I could wax lyrical about the different platforms available for sharing different content types, or opportunities for interconnection between platforms,..... But I won't.

Instead, may I suggest a much simpler first step?

How about taking just 5 minutes to think about how & why you use each platform? The exercise may surprise you as to whether you have the right audience to suit the objectives that you have for each platform.

The outcome of such an exercise may lead to considerable improvements in the effectiveness of  each platform, & lead you towards a simpler more effective strategy.