Up until last week we’ve basically had three major social networks to engage in; Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Last week we saw the birth of Google+ but I have still not received an invite…

I think most of us have a rather common view on the use of these three networks. LinkedIn is for professional contacts, Twitter for short quick dialogues and Facebook for friends and family. But where do you draw the line?

For me personally I never block anyone wanting to read what I write on Twitter but then again I do not automatically follow people who follow me – I scrutinise and select, I follow people who add value.
On LinkedIn I am not even that picky, I usually accept anyone as a contact if they have a legit account, i.e. do not look like spammers or already have millions of connections. In the latter case, what will I add and what will he/she add to me? Nothing…

In the case of Facebook I have been struggling to be consistent. On Facebook I post photos of family and outings with friends and I do not really want the whole world to see that. I am connected to cousins, parents and children and they are tagged accordingly. My relationship status is displayed and my preference in partners (male/female). Do I want the whole world to see this? No!

I have a rather strict view on who I accept as a Facebook friend, they are either family or I have met them in person a few times. Basically screened them IRL, pre-approved them. There are some exceptions and they are people with whom I’ve interacted a lot in other forums (usually Twitter) but they are just a few.
Now you know my view. How do you reason? How do you select, if at all?