Delegating relationship-building?

This tweet of mine struck a chord with many yesterday:

Screen Shot of a DM from someone's assistant on their boss's account inviting me to set up a time to speak with the boss

I’ve gotten this type of message on LinkedIn before, but this one was in my Twitter DMs. The woman and I had been following each other but had never made direct contact.

While I still hate receiving this “message from an assistant” on LinkedIn (you’re supposed to be engaging as yourself, unless you’re a company page), I feel it’s marginally more appropriate there than here, since that’s specifically a platform for business connections. One of my favorite things about Twitter is that personal accounts are almost certainly managed by the person themselves.

I get that building relationships online at a large scale can be time-consuming. I get that automation and delegation are useful tools that allow greater outreach. And I get that it’s a pretty decent practice to periodically go through your online connections and reach out to those you haven’t had conversations with yet, to bring that relationship a little deeper. All understandable.

BUT. This just rubbed me the wrong way, and felt like it crossed a line of impersonalism(?).

Thoughts?

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I feel “meh” about it. While it does seem impersonal, at least the person stated, upfront, that they were the assistant. What I consider poor form is there is no real reason for you to act. What’s in it for you as the recipient of the message? Or, as I bluntly say, “Who cares?” :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

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