This is a post that hurts me write, but I have been thinking about it for awhile. Once a year you need to parse thru your friends and connections on your various networks and cut some fat. Delete or remove some of the random people you have connected to that have not enhanced your online experience. Maybe that person on FaceBook who you hid, now is the time to simply remove them. Start now and finish your clean-up by the end of the year. I started last night with one on FaceBook and one on LinkedIn.
Yes, I understand some of you are going to drop me after reading this post, I know I am fat to some of you (more ways than one). Yes, I will miss your status updates on FaceBook and recommendations on LinkedIn, but if I annoy you or simply don’t add value to you, then now is the time to cut me. Our social and professional networks have grown dramatically over the last two years. You are being overwhelmed by information and have to learn how to manage it. I think it is natural and healthy to add some random people over the course of the year. With trees and plants, sometimes you have to cut them back for them to grow, this is true for your networks as well. Open up some space in your life and then fill it with some new people.
I understand this may appear on a superficial level to be anti-effective networking. Fahgetaboutit. Yes, you should be using Lists on FaceBook and have edited your options at the bottom of the newsfeed so you can see more than 250 people. Yes you must check-in on LinkedIn regularly and look at your connections regularly. Still, you need to trim that 10% fat and add some new fat. Your online life will be more interesting as a result. If you dump me after this, no hard feelings – hopefully we can connect again in the future. See you on the other side.
