It happens to me frequently, but then again it probably does to you too: another friend request from yet another social site! And it’s not like there’s just one, this following review site lists the most famous ones, but there are bound to be more:

http://social-networking-websites-review.toptenreviews.com/

But really, if you want to be my friend you don’t have to bring along your whole network to have them connected to me too! And especially not if it means I have to become a member just to interact with you, have to fill in yet another profile of information about me, and play along with the sometimes ridiculous mechanisms devised by the network people.

Friendship and anything beyond it is not in the popularity of your social network, but in what you mean to one another. I have friends I’d die for, whom I hardly ever speak to. We all know it, but when we need each other, we know where to find our friends! And we don’t do ‘must’ games: no silly invitations are sent through social network mechanisms, but instead the ones I do notice usually have one thing in common:

If you want to be my friend, just drop me an E-mail since it is still the most widely accepted messaging mechanism on the Web. I derive far more of a vibration about you from even a shoddily composed mail, than I do from the standard "Join our Network" pre-defined gobbledygook!

So no, I hardly ever reply to those join requests, especially not if it means yet another profile I don’t have the time or inclination to maintain. But mail at andre@moorelife.nl never goes unanswered if it could possibly replied to in a meaningful manner.

Love your Time, it is valued

Dre’