The other day I was contacted by a friend saying: “Do you know Bob McBill?” (Not his real name)
“I don’t think so” was my reply.
“Well he appears as one of your connections in (insert social networking tool)”
“Oh, really, why?”
“He’s just been sent to prison for (insert serious crime)”
Now it turns out that Bob McBill wasn’t actually one of my direct connections, he was a connection of a connection, but still, it got me thinking.
What does it say to other people that I have a social networking link to a criminal?
Would anyone infer something about me from this connection?
What would it do to my reputation if they did?
In what ways am I handing over control of my reputation to individuals outside my control?
How many other potentially embarrassing connections do I have out there?
Just to be clear, there isn’t anything to infer, this person wasn’t a direct connection anyway, but still…
And yes, I am going to be more careful about my social connections in the future.
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Graham Chastney 
I’m sure there are rooms full of law enforcement folk round the globe using social networking to catch their prey. As for embarrasing connections there is always unknown history, present and future 🙂 I find it harder to be told on more than one occasion of a birthday reminder for contacts who have died!
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Feel free to count me as an embarassing contact! 🙂
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Martyn, I’m not sure that “embarrassing” is the right word 🙂
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