What’s your approach when someone friends you on Facebook?

How do you handle a Friend request from someone you kind of recognize, but you can’t quite place how you know them?

Since this has happened to me more than once, I figure it probably happens to just about everyone who uses Facebook.

So, to see what other folks do, I posted the following question on my Boomers’ Social Media Tutor Facebook page.

How Do You Handle a Friend Request on Facebook From Someone You Don’t Quite Recognize?

I provided the following options for people to select from.

Do you:

1. Accept their friend request and later see if you can figure out how you know them?
2. First figure out how you know them before you decide whether or not to accept the request?
3. Just ignore the request?
4. Other ideas?

Responses to My Question

A handful of people responded to my question with the approach they use, and I was intrigued with the variation of these responses.

Here they are:

1. If you are using Facebook to promote your business, take a look at the person’s Facebook personal profile to see if they might be in your target market. If they are, accept the request.
2. Simply accept the request.
3. Look through their Facebook Friends and see if the two of you have any friends in common. Then check to see if any of those mutual friends have posted the requestor’s Facebook personal profile. Be sure that this person is a real friend and not just a collector of connections on Facebook.

My approach on handling Facebook friend requests is a blend of the first and third responses.

I do look over the person’s Facebook profile for clues as to how I might know them. Even if I do know them in “real life,” then I still look over the profile to see if I want to know their business on a regular basis.

That said, as the first person pointed out, this individual might need social media tutoring someday. If that is the case, I would accept the request.

The third respondent’s suggestions were also helpful to me.  I have looked to see which friends I have in common with a potential Facebook friend who has sent me a friend request.

However, I hadn’t thought to look through the newsfeed to see if any of those folks had commented on the Facebook wall of my potential Facebook friend.

In the end, I am selective about whom I connect with on Facebook, just as I am on LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest. I have to be drawn to that person in some way before I am willing to be sharing my personal life with them via Facebook or find out about theirs.

What’s your style when it comes to accepting Facebook friend requests? Do you have a different styles for the various social media sites you are on? It would be great to hear from you on this topic.

Joyce Feustel, Founder of Boomers’ Social Media Tutor, helps people relatively new to social media to become more effective and comfortable in their use of this medium. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com