Andrey Golub

Found just by case this fantastic question on LinkedIn Q&A today, by Jan Simpson.

it's almost my favorite subject- to keep CLOSED or OPENED our Networks on LinkedIn? :)

 

And my answer is-

With all my respect to your professional experience, Jan...

It's just the opposite, the most "normal" Business Networkers usually have doubts if to be "OPEN Networker" is a normal thing for LinkedIn or a it's mistaken approach for the PROFESSIONAL/ BUSINESS Networking.
We are here on LinkedIn, not on Facebook, Spock, MySpace, right?

The main principle of LinkedIn's STRONG Network is to have TRUSTED CONTACTS.
In terms of Professional Networking, Strong Network is for sure not the same as Huge Network, and an Open Network!

And this Network of Trusted Contacts is needed to pass the messages from one network peer to any other peer, through their trusted peers- connections. It's NOT the sense of LinkedIn to show the content of our Networks- here we do not poke each other just to "get poked back", right?

Here we:
a) Search for a needed person
b) Contact the needed person through our TRUSTED peers.

in order to do this, there is no need to browse the Network of anybody!
If we need to connect with more TRUSTED people we've worked in the past with or we have any other kind of relations with, we can:
a) search by company/ school name- colleagues/ classmates etc.
b) search by location
c) search by any keyword of interest.

Why I am sure about what do I tell?
Look I am myself a co-founder and a VP of a LinkedIn Club of Italy, that's a recognized by LinkedIn.com Club for its Evangelism effort in the promotion of LinkedIn in Italy and Europe. I am also the Web/ Web 2.0 manager and PR 2.0 officer of the Club (means the most "available" person in the Board)... and I have my Network... CLOSED. it's for the years already!

in the beginning it was opened, but then SEVERAL VIP people asked me-
...Andrey, I do NOT want to be BROWSED by your other peers, we are not in a "Supermarket of Contacts". If you want to be connected with me, plz only pass the serious messages to me, no spam, and please do not show me in your Network. One who needs ME, will find me via search form!

and this was told by the people I consider very important VIP connections, maybe the most heavily networked in my Network :) (those who have 10- peers, and those who are very big bosses).

So I was thinking A LOT, spoken with tons of people in my Club (we are ~4.000 Club Members today), and I've come to a conclusion that the Network must be PROTECTED, since it's NOT the Goal for Professional Networking on LinkedIn to show to everyone here around who's in my Network! it's to protect THEM. I am not hiding something from myself- come and contact me- I am hiding them since I am not "a supermarket of connections" :)

instead on Facebook- you are welcome to write on my wall, to poke me etc :) I have tons of contacts there and I am very happy about the Extremal Social Communication that we do on Facebook.

then it's even better on SPOCK.com- here the GOAL is to establish the relations b/w all the people in the World. And I have hundreds of people in my open network, I am connected to each of this person via a relation tag like "colleague", "friend", "linkedin peer". But Spock is a People Search Engine- it's goal is to SEARCH on top of this META- data.

LinkedIn is not a Search Engine, it's a Professional Networking Tool. I hope everybody will agree about this statement?
So I always try to keep LinkedIn for my professional/ business goals only.

Keywords: Facebook, Jan Simpson, LinkedIn, Open Networker, Professional Networking, Social Networking, Spock, Business Networking