Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

I have (but don't really use) an account on LinkedIn; the idea there is that it's supposed to be for professional contacts, people you know well enough in that sense that you'd be comfortable telling them about a job opening, or telling them "so-and-so is hiring."

When someone asks to connect there, the options are "accept," "reply to this message" (where I could let the person know that we need a three-pronged widget maker in the Narnia office, or just say "hi" back, or even tell them why I'm saying yes or no," or "I don't know this user." (I can also report things as spam.)

"I don't know this user" thus has to stand in for everything from "He's got great taste in music, but I have no idea of his job skills" to "I haven't seen her in twenty years" to "I know this person but can't honestly recommend them." It's LiveJournal/Facebook "friend" granularity, without filters: but I would be less irritated right now if there was a "decline request" button, labeled as such. Yes, I know, the machine doesn't have enough sapience to know or care that I'm lying to it. But I know. So there are requests that have been sitting there, unanswered, for a year or more.