Despite efforts to promote personalized connection requests, 9 out of 10 LinkedIn invitations I receive are the standard 11-word generic default message: ”I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”
That’s fine if you actually know the individual being contacted. Unfortunately, far too many invitations are extended by individuals who have passing or no connection to the targeted individual. Don’t require prospective connections to read through your profile to figure out who you are or the rationale for your request.
An increasing number of people — myself included — are beginning to ignore default invitations, while some colleagues are even reporting them as spam if they don’t detect any logical rationale for the connection request. Avoid either of these reactions by including a personalized message.
Yes, there are other protocol issues with LinkedIn, but this is my current online etiquette pet peeve. This and others are covered in LinkedIn Etiquette—20 Dos and Don’ts.