The apathy of connecting with others online

We forget how polite we are when we meet someone new in person - we greet, say a few things about ourselves, learn a few things about the others, and hope to have an intriguing discussion.

Our digital interactions have led us to believe that we are conversing with emotionless individuals. LinkedIn connection requests are a good example. We're sending them without an introductory note, or at best with a common phrase mentioning the "network building". However, the connections are not mere mentions of another name in our connections list, but rather a potential point of contact in the future.

A new approach

Begin to treat connection requests as if they were an actual meeting with the other person.

Begin with a simple "hi!" If you've already spoken with that person - either in person or on another online platform - remind them of this. If not, please introduce yourself and explain why you sent the connection request. Make it personal, as you're not looking to connect with a random person on LinkedIn, but with a specific one.

In this approach, the other person will understand why you're in their network: how they can help you and how you can help them. It increases the chances of the other person accepting you into their network and initiating a new chat on a topic you stated in your message.

`pleasegreet.me`

pleasegreet.me is a short, open source manifesto for those who believe in good LinkedIn connections. It simply clarifies why including a message when submitting a connection request may be advantageous to both you and the connected person.

Using the manifesto

Simply "sign" the manifesto by indicating in your bio that you follow the pleasegreet.me philosophy so that people who visit your profile are aware of your expectations when you receive a connection request:

Please introduce yourself briefly while sending a connection request. Consider "signing" the manifesto at pleasegreet.me if you have similar expectations from new requests.

Editing the manifesto

Please propose changes through the GitHub repository.