If you invite someone onto your page and just leave the automated message "Xyz wants to be your friend" then you're treating your prospective new friend like a whore.
After all you wouldn't go up to someone in a singles bar and just say "I want to be your friend" You'd chat them up first, find out something about them, pay a genuine compliment and so on.
So why don't people do the same when looking for online friends on the social networking sites, especially My Space?
Then there's the Whore Train and similar software which is the ultimate in impersonal friend searches. It's the online version of promiscuity where the amount of friends you get is more important than the quality of those friends.
And of course A & R peeps aren't fooled. Nor is anyone else for that matter. On the other hand if you have many friends and the number of well thought out comments they post is high in percentage terms then people might prick up their ears.
So make your online friends special by doing the following:
- When inviting them use the message facility and show that you've visited their page and say something nice (but be genuine) about their site such as the design or you like their songs or comment on something in their bio etc. Anything to show that you've bothered to look at their page properly.
- If possible address them by name in your message
- When they accept you as a friend post a comment on their page thanking them but don't leave it as a bare "thanks for the add." Make the thank you different if possible and also say something more about their page/music etc.
- Aim to post a comment once a month, open a spreadsheet to keep track if necessary. Yes it takes time to do that but it will show that you are a person who cares about your friends.
Remember an online friend is a fan you've not yet met! :-)
The Legendary Frank
My Space: http://www.myspace.com/competeyetworktogether
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