Personal versus private

I know what that headline sounds like. But I don’t mean to get snobbish. However, after reading Rajesh’s post about the need to divide personal and private presences online, I couldn’t agree more. Of course, I am not implying that I have as visible a public persona as Rajesh’s. I am mainly referring to the reasons behind doing something like this.

Friend requests on Facebook, LinkedIn, Orkut (which I visit about once a month now) and other such sites are starting to go the SPAM way. With about two new request at least every day, I would have felt happy had some long lost friends found me or a good business opportunity arisen. But as Rajesh points out, there is a place and a time for everything. Thanks to the Internet, time doesn’t matter, but place still does.

So for those who know this blog and the corresponding social networking IDs, Facebook is for personal friends and LinkedIn is for ‘work’ friends. I am not averse to mixing the two but only after I’m comfortable about having someone from one in the other. Of course, requests for introductions etc wherever possible are still welcome.

And while I’m on the subject, this one goes out to all my friends: don’t send me invites to Facebook stuff (especially the Li’l Green Patch!). I ain’t signing up!

Apologies if that sounded harsh…