Poll: Should You Friend Competitors on Social Networks?

Poll: Should You Friend Competitors on Social Networks?
This question comes up often in meetings and speaking engagements. Businesses fear that competitors will see what they are doing or find out who their clients are.

Should you add competitors to groups you have started on social networks? Should you allow them to join your business pages? Should you block them from following you on sites like Twitter? What are your thoughts?

Please take a minute to give me your opinion. Once I have enough answers, I will write a blog post on what I think, along with some tips on how you should engage with your competition online.

Let’s also start a discussion about it in the comments below. I look forward to reading your viewpoints on this topic.
Should You Friend Your Competitors on Social Networks?
Yes (66%, 69 Votes)

It depends (26%, 27 Votes)

No (8%, 9 Votes)

Total Voters: 105
Loading …
Posted May 3rd, 2010 By Mirna Bard in Polls, Social Networking With | 18 Comments
Tags: competition, competitors, poll, Social Networking, Social Networks

Tweet

http://wallingfordwired.com Harriman Real Estate

Well, you know the old saying: “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” ;-D

All kidding aside, we do friend competitors, why not? We have enough confidence in the services we provide to not fear anyone in our marketplace taking our business or clients. And some of our competitors are (gasp!) actually our friends, so why wouldn’t we friend them? After all, that’s why it’s called “social networking”, right?

http://JasonWheeler.biz/foreclosure Jason Wheeler

I agree with you. You would be surprised how often you might connect and collaborate with your competitors if you would just have a quick chat.

http://www.meetusinghal.com Meetu Singhal

Oh Yes! should always be friends with Competitors. I have not seen any negatives from doing so.
http://www.rob-berman.com Rob Berman

There are business friends and personal friends. We often have friends who work in the same industry but are competitors. A person you friend today can move to a competitor tomorrow so it is hard to stop it. If the person is not malicious then why not all allow them to follow you so you can follow them?

Rob
http://askdanjohnson.com Dan Johnson

I think you should be a friend to everybody that you meet in a Social network. Maybe after you’ve swapped some of your tips with them, they may be willing to reciprocate back to you as well.
Also with some of these Network Marketing companies, you can’t be too sure if they will be in business tomorrow or the next day. Your competitor today could be your best affiliate tomorrow.
http://www.twitter.com/KPerrotteRHI Kristie Perrotte

Absolutely. Social networking is all about transparency. I always treat every interaction like I am writing/speaking to my best client with my biggest competitor in the room. Those who are savvy enough will learn about your social networking/marketing/PR strategy whether or not you include them in your social communities anyways.
http://www.jasonwheeler.biz Jason Wheeler

I’ve found that a would be competitor can end up being a major partner if you just take some time and talk with them. Always get to know you competitors. Maybe you can use some of their ideas!
http://www.orangecaster.com Derick Schaefer

I’ve been known to go one step beyond and just flat out hand them business when I know the opportunity will have more success with their specialization in social media!
http://twitter.com/schumpert Scott Schumpert

In the non-profit arts world, friend-ing your “competitors” is almost essential. When your organization succeeds all of the arts succeed. Through social media, arts organization can thrive individually and collectively.
Pingback: Social Computing Experts » Poll: Should You Friend Competitors on Social Networks? | Mirna Bard
Pingback: Poll: Should You Friend Competitors on Social Networks? | Mirna Bard « Social Computing Technology
http://www.mirnabard.com Mirna Bard

All EXCELLENT Comments! Thank you for voting and giving your feedback. I will leave the poll open another week of two then follow it up with a blog post.
http://www.jobsdirectusa.com Carlos Gil

Great article! Competition is only competition when you view it as such. Here’s an idea to ponder, collaborating with so-called competition to leverage each others successes — a lost concept in today’s art of business.
http://mark-sheldon-consultancy.co.uk Mark Sheldon

I think it’s sensible to friend competitors, the more open we are the more we attract business this may include collaboration with a former/existing competitor.
The more we worry about scarcity of business the more we may find we get.

http://JasonWheeler.biz Jason Wheeler

Good point Mark. Also you never know what you might learn from a competitor. Maybe you can pick up a good idea and improve on it for your own benefit.

http://www.mirnabard.com Mirna Bard

Love the interest and discussion this poll has generated! Keep the comments coming!
http://SimpleVirtualTeamSuccess.com Erica Cosminsky

I’m pretty strongly opinionated about competition. Usually your competition can also be your colleagues and biggest sources of ideas. For entrepreneurs and small businesses they may also be your safety net. I personally work with a team so my business carries on if I’m not in the office but I have a lot of freelance transcriptionists that turn to me if they have an overwhelming amount of work, get sick or have to be off work for some reason. Taking care of your clients is much more important than loosing them.

Secondarily if you block yourself out from your competitors and try to hide what you are doing, you are also making it harder for your ideal client to find you.
http://wagnerwrites.com Claire Wagner

Everything I “say” or “do” online is public anyway. I have learned so much from people that could be competitors. I also have active working relationships (joint projects) with people who do the same kind of work as me, too. We’ve taken the time to outline our specific strengths in writing, strategy, and social media, and now that we understand our differentiation, we can actually work together when appropriate, especially on big projects that need more than one writer. I guess that’s “collabetition”?