Anyway, regarding your points, that will make an excellent blog post on my LinkedIn blog. I’ll work on that this week (I have been meaning to write about that for a while).

Specifically regarding connectors, I think it’s valuable to be conneced to a mega-connector, but I wouldn’t say it’s more valuable than having 100s of connections… UNLESS you use LI as a search database ONLY. More on that later.

Linkedin has seen a surge of interest in the last year or so — its been around longer but for some reason (just word of mouth?) it seems to be really popular recently. People have now started randomly expanding their connections by finding some vague connection (or sometimes even when there is no real connection) in an effort to expand their network. It is a good way to increase the circle of “connected” people but I sometimes wonder about the utility. I have received invites from people I have no idea who they are sometimes. So, I think I know what you mean by strength of the network. I have debated rejecting invites although by having them in my 1st circle, I probably get more people into my 2nd and 3rd and … networks. The toughest ones I debate are recruiters — they have 500+ connections typically — though most of them are probably like me; i.e. landed up in the recruiters profile as a contact though by the very nature of the recruiter’s job, he/she probably does not know a large majority of them.

On a different variation on the theme …
I remember reading something recently (do not remember where) about the “Connectors”. Having a real “connector” in your network is more important than having 100s of connections.

Regarding your question, do contacts fade as we get further away… let throw out an idea. I think we typically measure the strength of our network by the size … using a breadth and depth as two measurements. But what about strength of each relationship?

What if I meet someone, who introduces me to someone, who introduces me to someone, who introduces me to someone else. I now have new first degree, second degree, third degree and fourth degree contacts. Let’s assume my relationship with each of them is weak.

Then, that fourth degree contact introduces me to John, who I develop a really rich relationship with… I can have that type of relationship with John even though I have no real relationship with the other four people.

I think the strength of a relationship is a third measurement to help you know the strength of your network (the other two would be breadth and depth)… and lots of people who brag about their numbers on sites like LinkedIn miss this third dimension, which may be more impt than the other two … ?

Another quick thought… I hear that you get your job leads from your third and fourth degree contacts, not your first and second degree contacts… so it’s important to keep drilling down, and, as Heather asks, “WHO DO YOU KNOW…”

Yes, my favorite business question has always been “who do you know?”

You ROCK yet again and thanks for letting “me” know that “I” am also six degrees from Kevin Bacon

When I talk to groups about linkedin, I always mention that I am a 2nd degree connection to both candidates for President of the United States! While it doesn’t mean that either will be stopping by for dinner, I think it is a fun fact to share!

I think one of the best things about linkedin (and other social networking sites) is the opportunity to see who people know without having to ask. It’s often surprising and exciting to find out how small the world really is.