The problem as I see it is this: People join these sites to promote their business opportunities, not to do actual networking. The reason that I think this happens is not out of any sort of malice, but out of misguided enthusiasm, and guru garbage. There is a difference between advertising a business and networking. That difference seems to elude most people.

For an example, I get friend invitations all the time that are nothing more than an advertisement. Most people who invite me to be friends, never take the time to read my profile, and I can tell just by reading the invitation. In fact, I received an invitation just today, where someone was promoting a child safety program, and they even stated, "You may not have children, but..." If they'd read my profile, they would have known that I have two children.

So what does that tell me? It screams to me that they aren't interested in being a friend, or networking, but that they are taking the opportunity to sling ads at me. Would you invite a new friend over to your house, an shove newspaper ads in their face, or for the sole purpose of selling them something? I don't think so.

If they'd have read my profile, they'd also know that I am not looking for a business opportunity. So, this tells me that all they did was go to my profile page an click on the add friend button. No reading was involved; just the copying and pasting of an ad.

I'll be honest.... When someone posts and ad to my social networking profile, or sends one through an internal mailing system, or a friend invitation, all I see is, "I don't know you; I don't care to know you, just buy my stuff, or join my program." It's all Me, Me, Me! Networking is not about ME! It's about WE!

The sad thing is that people are probably doing more harm to themselves, than good. For one, they are typically slamming ads at people who are either in the same programs they are in, or have an opportunity they are trying to promote themselves. Talk about wasting time and energy. You don't promote business opportunities to those who have one; you promote to those who don't.

Social networking sites were not created as free ad sites. They do not give you license to spam. And, slinging ads at people within the confines of a networking group is spam. No matter how you slice it, you either eat it, or throw it out.

Placing banners in someone's comment window is rude too, and that seems to be a favorite past time for many. Their profile page is for their self promotion, not for visitors to post their own ads. Come on people. How would you like it if you'd spent time creating a web site, only to have scads of people throw their banners on it without asking you first? Would you go to a place of business and just put flyers up all over their store front? No, of course not. For one thing, someone would tear them all down. It would be like walking into a Wal-Mart and putting up ads for J.C. Penney. Rude, rude, rude.

This sort of behavior tells people that you are either inexperienced, or you really don't care about others; making them less than desirable to work with. (It's okay to be inexperienced, but you don't need to act unprofessional about it. In other words, you don't have to make it obvious.) I'll work with an inexperienced marketer, who demonstrates a serious and professional demeanor, than a millionaire who acts like a jerk, any day.

Social networking sites are for networking; meeting people, sharing ideas, learning new things, etc.. Perhaps someone should write an ebook about social networking etiquette. Hummm...

I join networking sites to meet people. I promote myself. I look for people who may need my services, or who may teach me something I don't know. By the way... That's how you learn to be an Internet marketer, for free. You don't need to buy every new guru ebook, or gadget to learn, just hang out in places where successful people hang out and listen to them. That's how I learned most of what I know.

Social networking is supposed to be social. Leave your business link in your signature line, and write something about yourself, not your business. If someone wants to know about your business, they will ask.