Back in college, I used to play this great game for Nintendo 64, called ‘Goldeneye’. It was a James Bond game, and the object was to shoot people with a variety of guns.
Until it wasn’t. The game had a delightful feature, called ‘Slappers Only!’. Basically, nobody had weapons. So, everybody went around just slapping the shit out of each other. That was awesome if you were the slapper, not so much if you were the slappee.
And, I kind of feel like I’m the slappee on social media services when I get automated messages from new connections. You know, I’m just minding my own business on LinkedIn, I connect with someone new who has invited me to make our online business friendship official – and, immediately, I receive a breathless message about how their business could REVOLUTIONIZE MY WHOLE FUCKING LIFE, in all caps, of course.
So, if I shook your hand at a networking event, you wouldn’t yell this at me, right – which begs the question: What effect does this tactic have online, other than to make me hate you?
The moral of the story, of course, is: if you’re going to use automated messages, just access some chill. Use that to warm up a new connection, rather than flying them on a rocket ship ride to the sun.
Also, after you send that very introspective and relaxed introductory email, maybe followup with a more personalized one later.
Or, just do that instead.