Call me crazy, but isn’t the purpose of LinkedIn to set up a profile and network with other users yourself? I got this message today from from a colleague of a guy named Pete Basset of QuiteGreat.co.uk. If Pete couldn’t take the time to contact me himself, then why should I take the time to network with him? So, I hit delete.

Now, it seems that Pete owns a PR and communications company. I guess he must be using LinkedIn like he does the press. He’s got his lackey blanketing everyone to see what sticks.

How many of you use someone else to troll through your LinkedIn or Facebook friends to make your connections, instead of doing it yourself? If you’re a fairly discerning person, why would you entrust someone to make friends or business relationships with people you might not really want to know? And, lastly, what if your lackey started hitting up people you really don’t like? Not much of a filter, is it?

There are people I come across on LinkedIn that I’d never invite into my network of friends. If the person I assign the task to has to come back to me and ask if it’s okay to send a message to this person or that person, did you really save time in the first place?

That being said, until technology advances to the point someone can think like me, act like me and be just about as picky as I am about who I let into my social web–be sure you’ll never get a message from someone I directed to use my profile to contact you.