I think that you're absolutely right in that a follower model works
better to share ideas, but I wonder if it makes stronger connections.
There are so many people on Twitter that just follow back, and this
behavior doesn't encourage stronger ties. After all, when all we hear
is noise, we tune it out. On the other hand, Facebook was started as
a way to carry over relationships from the real world to the digital
space. This too has it's issues, however, as I remember getting friend
requests from several people in my freshman class that I had never met
before – and who had friended me along with the rest of the class.

LinkedIn's super privacy protection can be a bit over the top, I
agree. But I wonder if what we (and by “we” I mean a social network)
need to develop is a two tiered system, where you can friend those
people you want to develop a relationship with and follow those you
don't? I'm not too sure how this would work, but it's irrational to
expect that everyone you follow will want to form a deep connection
with you.

The trick I suppose is to develop a system that allows for both
friends and followers, while not confusing users. It may not be
possible, but it would be interesting to try.

Jed

I've been thinking about the friend vs. follower thing a lot too…Obviously because we implemented it on Brazen Careerist despite most other professional network models out there.

What I hope it does is make it easier for people to connect and share ideas. When I go to LinkedIn I get frustrated w/ how difficult it is to connect with people. Sometimes I need to be introduced, etc…This is intimidating, especially for young professionals with limited networks.

And don't get me wrong, LinkedIn is great for a lot of things and inspires us a lot at Brazen Careerist. Still, there are a lot of needs professionally that have yet to be met!

Thanks for writing this post. It got me thinking.

-RP