Social media has become an integral part of our lives. Platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram allow us to connect with friends, family, colleagues, brands, celebrities, and more. An important part of using these platforms is sending and receiving connection requests. But what exactly are connection requests, and what should you know about properly using them? This comprehensive guide will explore the ins and outs of connection requests on major social media platforms.
What is a Connection Request on Social Media?
A connection request is simply a request sent from one user to another asking to be connected on a particular social media platform. These requests allow you to link your profile with another user in order to share content, communicate, and broaden your network.
Connection requests go by different names on different platforms:
- On Facebook, they are called “friend requests”
- On LinkedIn, they are called “connection requests”
- On Instagram, they are called “follow requests”
But the general concept is the same across all major social networks. When you send a connection request, you are asking another user if they will confirm the link between your profiles. If they accept your request, you become connected. If they ignore or decline it, no connection is made.
Benefits of Connections
There are many benefits to connecting with other users on social media platforms:
- Increased visibility – When you’re connected, you can easily view each other’s profiles, photos, videos, and updates. This helps you stay up-to-date and helps increase your visibility with each new connection.
- Ability to communicate – Once connected, you can communicate via messaging/chat, comments, posts, etc. This allows you to develop relationships and have conversations.
- Broadened network – Every new connection expands your overall network on each platform. The larger your network, the farther your reach and influence can spread.
- New opportunities – Connections can lead to new opportunities both personal and professional. You may connect with old friends, new business contacts, or discover artists and influencers you admire.
Connection Request Etiquette
When sending and responding to connection requests on social media, following proper etiquette is important. Here are some key etiquette guidelines to keep in mind:
Only Connect with People You Know
Never send random connection requests to complete strangers or people you have absolutely no association with. Make sure the person requesting to connect with you is at least an acquaintance, friend, family member, colleague, classmate, or other loose connection before approving the request. Connecting with strangers can be risky and lead to spam. Take a quick look at the user’s profile to confirm you know them or have met them before accepting.
Personalize Every Request
Take the time to write a short, personalized message when sending connection requests explaining who you are and how you know the person. Avoid lazily using generic messages like “Let’s connect!” or “I’d like to add you to my network.” Personalizing the request with context helps remind the recipient who you are and makes accepting the request more enticing. Mention where you met, when you last spoke, or what you have in common.
Review Profiles Before Connecting
Before sending a connection request, briefly look over the user’s profile to verify they are who you think they are and don’t display any red flags. Scan their bio info, photos, posts, and followers to ensure everything looks legitimate. This avoids accidentally sending requests to fake accounts or spammers. Also check that the profile’s content and images appear appropriate and aligned with your values before connecting.
Respond to Requests in a Timely Manner
When you receive connection requests, make an effort to accept or decline them within a few days. Leaving requests sitting for weeks is inconsiderate and reflects poorly on you. If you need more time to decide, send the person a quick message letting them know when you plan to follow up. Avoid simply ignoring or forgetting about incoming requests entirely.
Decline Requests Respectfully
If you receive a connection request from someone you don’t know or aren’t interested in connecting with, politely decline by sending a brief message explaining why. Simply ignoring undesired requests can create awkward situations. But take care to decline gently, not confrontationally. A message like “Sorry I don’t recall us meeting before” or “I’m trying to keep my network focused on X” goes a long way.
Don’t Spam Requests
Don’t bombard them with multiple connection requests back-to-back if they don’t respond when trying to connect with someone new. Wait a week or two between your initial request and any follow up. Sending too many requests comes across as desperate and often annoys the recipient. Be patient and don’t appear overeager when wanting to connect.
Following these tips will ensure you make positive impressions both when sending and receiving requests. It’s all about connecting thoughtfully, personalizing your outreach, and being considerate of others.
Who to Connect With
When using social media strategically, you’ll want to be thoughtful about who you connect with. Here are some of the key people you should aim to link up with:
Friends and Family
Connecting with close friends and family members on social media is important for easily keeping in touch and sharing life events, photos, and updates. Make sure to send connection requests to relatives like parents, siblings, cousins, aunts/uncles as well as good friends, especially those you interact with regularly in-person. Staying linked on social media makes communicating across distances much easier.
Acquaintances and Associates
It’s also helpful to connect with acquaintances from your past like old classmates, colleagues from previous jobs, people you’ve met at parties or networking events, etc. Even if you don’t interact with them daily, staying loosely connected on social media allows you to nurture these relationships over time in case you ever want to develop them further. Having these weak ties in your network pays dividends down the road.
Industry Contacts
One of the most valuable types of connections are those within your industry, niche, or field. Linking up with fellow professionals, experts, and brands allows you to expand your professional network, share ideas and opportunities, and forge potential partnerships. Actively grow your industry connections by searching for key leaders in your field and sending thoughtful requests. These relationships can really benefit your career.
Influencers and Brands
Connecting directly with influencers, thought leaders, public figures, brands, artists, and celebrities you admire on social media gives you insider access to their content and the ability to engage. Follow requests allow you to view their updates in your feed and learn from their work. Be sure to customize your request explaining your appreciation. These connections provide value through inspiration and insights.
Warm Leads and Prospects
Another strategic type of connection are those with your warm leads, prospects, or any connections who may help you achieve business goals when linked up. Sending customized requests explaining you’d love to stay in touch often nurtures relationships with potential partners, affiliates, investors, or clients down the line. Getting connected provides a chance to strengthen those bonds and open sales doors once linked.
How to Send Good Connection Requests
Crafting thoughtful, personal connection requests is key to getting accepted and forging strong connections:
Use the Proper Platform
- Connect with friends and family on Facebook and Instagram
- Connect with professional contacts on LinkedIn
- Connect with brands and influencers on the platforms they are most active on
Personalize the Message
Taking a moment to personalize your connection request with a warm message makes a big difference. Introduce yourself, explain how you know the person or why you’d like to connect, and use their name to make it feel more personal. For example, “Hi Amy, it’s John Smith from the XYZ Conference last month. I enjoyed your presentation on social media trends. I’d love to connect on LinkedIn to stay in touch.”
Keep it Brief
Your personalized message only needs to be a few concise sentences explaining the context for your connection. You don’t need to write a novel introducing yourself. Keep it short and sweet. The key details are who you are, how you know them, and why you want to connect.
Proofread Carefully
Be sure to double and triple check your message for any spelling errors or typos before hitting send. Small mistakes like that create a sloppy, unprofessional impression and increase the chances your request will be ignored or declined. Always proofread your messages.
Follow Up if Needed
If the person doesn’t respond to your initial connection request within a week or so, don’t be afraid to follow up with another friendly message checking in. Sometimes requests get buried or overlooked. A simple, “Hi Jack, just wanted to check if you had a chance to review my connection request?” can go a long way. Persistence and follow up pays off.
Accept Thoughtfully
When you receive incoming connection requests, reciprocate the effort by taking a moment to write a quick, warm thank you note in reply to acceptances. For example, “Thanks for connecting Anna! Looking forward to seeing your updates.” This keeps the social etiquette flowing smoothly.
Managing Inbound Requests
As your network grows, you’ll start receiving more and more connection requests:
Avoid Spam and Bots
Be vigilant about checking that incoming connection requests are from real people you actually recognize, not fake profiles or spammers. Take a close look at the profile details and posting activity. Ignore or decline any sketchy looking requests that appear to be spam or bots, which are rampant on social platforms.
Review Profiles First
Make it a habit to briefly review the profile and bio info of the person sending you a connection request. Take 15-30 seconds to verify you do in fact know them and are comfortable connecting. This avoids mistakenly accepting requests from strangers.
Don’t Accept Strangers
It’s perfectly fine to politely decline connection requests from random people you don’t know or have no interest in connecting with. You have no obligation to accept every request. Send them a courtesy note declining the connection if needed. Only connect with those you want in your network.
Accept When Appropriate
Do accept connection requests from people you have an existing relationship with or want to develop one with. Whether personal friends or professional contacts, accepting requests from those with shared context allows you to mutually benefit from the social link.
Organize Your Network
Use built-in social media tools or third party apps to organize your connections into custom lists, circles or groups. For example, sort connections into “Close Friends,” “Family,” “Co-Workers,” “Industry Contacts,” etc. This keeps your network tidy and easy to navigate.
Being selective and organized with incoming requests will ensure the connections you accept are genuinely valuable.
Tips for Each Major Platform
Every social media platform has its own unique culture and etiquette around sending connection requests:
- Personalize friend requests with a reminder of where you met or know the person from
- Keep your friends list exclusive to true friends and family
- Feel free to ignore requests from strangers or vague acquaintances
- Send more requests but accept selectively to build a strategic professional network
- Use requests to reconnect with old colleagues and expand your industry network
- Personalize invitations using business context when possible
- Target connecting with influencers, brands, celebs, and niche communities relevant to your interests
- Write a friendly message explaining your appreciation for their content
- Be more selective about who you follow since it’s highly visual content
- Use to follow thought leaders, news sources, brands, celebrities, etc. that create content you want to see
- You can follow liberally as long as their content provides value to you
- Feel free to mute accounts if you want to limit their visibility
Avoiding Connection Request Mistakes
There are some key mistakes you’ll want to avoid when connecting:
- Sending too many requests at once can appear spammy. Take it slow.
- Accepting requests from strangers opens you up to risk. Verify you know them first.
- Ignoring incoming requests is rude. Quickly accept or politely decline.
- Copying and pasting the same message creates a robotic vibe. Personalize your notes.
- Forgetting to clean up your profile and posts creates a bad impression. Give your profile a once-over first.
- Assuming people will remember how you know them. Refresh their memory in your request.
- Appearing too salesy or promotional can quickly turn off potential connections. Focus on relationship-building.
Following Up on Pending Requests
Don’t be afraid to follow up if a connection request goes unanswered for a long period of time:
- Wait 1-2 weeks before following up to allow them time to respond.
- Send a new request with a warm message referencing your original request.
- If they continue ignoring requests, it likely means they’re not interested in connecting.
- Avoid harassing people with continual follow-up requests if they don’t respond.
- Consider periodically re-requesting important industry connections every few months. Timing may have just been off.
Other Strategies to Get Noticed
Beyond sending connection requests, there are additional ways to get noticed and connect with hard-to-reach people:
- Engage regularly by liking and commenting on their content to become a familiar face. Be thoughtful and avoid spamming.
- Share their content and tag them to indicate your support and gain visibility.
- Connect with them on multiple platforms, not just one.
- Network with connections who may be able to facilitate an introduction.
- Interact in relevant industry groups and communities they are part of.
- Create value-adding content and build your own following first before connecting.
In Closing
Connection requests are the gateway to expanding your reach and relationships on social media. By mastering the strategies around sending and receiving requests, you’ll be able to strategically grow your network. But always remember to connect thoughtfully, avoid spamming, and focus on forging genuine relationships, not just acquiring friends and followers. The quality of your connections carries much more value than the quantity.
