Silky: The Silkworm of Fate!

[neilr]

(Ok, the topic's a stretch, but it is related to the 'tied together' theme..)

IMHO there are a number of problems with social networking sites. The obvious one is that they're silos (I've heard an interesting rumor about how Windows Live is going to integrate with several of them, but that's just a rumor until it's not) but less obvious is the fact that they're so new that we're still working out the etiquette.

Over time and across various websites, I've run into the following situations:

• I receive a link/friend request from someone I don't know
• I receive a link request but didn't see it until months later
• I receive a link request from someone I don't like
• I receive a link request from someone I knew but have drifted apart from them
• The same thing as the above four, but reverse every instance of "I" and "the other person"

What do you do? If you drift away from a person, is it polite to de-link them as a friend, or is that rude because you used to be friends? If you don't like a person, is it more polite to decline their request, or let it sit forever? What if you don't see the request for 6+ months? (It's happened....) Do you acknowledge it?

Or maybe I just over-think these things and no-one else cares. Oh, Dear Heavens! *thunder crashes* Oh, Dear Abey! How could thou forsake me in my hour of need! *more thunder*