As the world of online "friends" is getting increasingly blurred, and many of us are joining social network after social network, expanding our realm of friends to mean much more than just those we know in real life, artificial rules of etiquette are being created for when you follow someone or add them as a friend, and when you don't. And when two people have different, unequal rules, there is a potential for conflict, or hurt feelings, even when we have the option to step back and realize this is all very silly. No one hard and fast rule works for everybody, and I would expect that the "rules" are different for each network, given the impact "following" can mean.
The issue of who to friend started well before social networking sites like Friendster and MySpace took hold, and before Twitter and FriendFeed changed the game in terms of how adding somebody as a friend ...Read the full article
lol...Louis, that's a great approach - I can't believe that someone would be upset because they are not receiving a reciprocal follow. I think you have to be interesting to be followed. It should "mean" something.
'When two people are different' - surely that is when the potential for growth of knowledge and relationship leverage is at its best and most full of potential. I always gain more from 'community' with folks with differing outlooks - provided I am prepared to admit my failings and accept that sometimes the views I encounter may by better formed than my own.
Unfortunately the benchmarks for 'rules' are all real life based.. Agree that each community will make its own rules as they go along, and break them too :)