Archive for April 14th, 2009

Okay, since the response to the “Bad Email” thread was quite good, I think it might be appropriate to go further. What do you do when you receive the following from MyLife or LinkedIn saying  “So and So would like to be added to your network” and you don’t remember who So and So is?

Alright, this seems obvious, the person is a shameless spammer who’s building the uber-LinkedIn master network designed to access every breathing person in America for their Multi-Level-Marketing empire. But wait! Are you sure you don’t know this person? I mean, could it be that you just are having a mental blackout moment and you will remember them right after you send the “Lord, I know him not” response?

I had this happen to me. I sent a friend request via LinkedIn and the woman wrote back, “Do I know you?” Yeah, I said, I’m your cousin. Since that time I’ve been worried about saying there’s anyone I really am sure I don’t know. What if they got married and changed their surname? What if they had a legal name change for relgious reasons? What if I’m just trying to do too many things at one and in a moment I will remember that this is someone really important that I cannot afford to offend?

As a result, I haven’t sent any ‘I don’t know them” responses. People, this is the honest truth: Sometimes I don’t know if I know you. If you’d send a picture, it might help, but then again it might not.

Do you know this person, the email asks? Um, well … I plead the fifth.