Disruptive Conversations

So I finally broke down and set up a Facebook account.  I'd been avoiding it for ages simply because I already have way too many accounts at different services.  I primarily use LinkedIn for maintaining connections, but I still have an orkut account from when I set it up back in 2004 and a Xing account from back when it was OpenBC.  There's probably a number of other systems where I set up a page to try it out and then never went back.  But I haven't set up a Facebook or MySpace page... I could say that it was because the demographic is much younger (true!), but the reality is that I just haven't had the time.  Lately, though, I've noticed a number of people seeming to use Facebook for business connections, and so it has slowly ratcheted its way up onto my list of things that maybe I should check out.  So late last night, I gave in and signed up.  If you are a Facebook user and I know you, feel free to go to my profile (click on the image above) and add me as a friend - I'll be glad to do so in return.  I don't expect I'll change my primary use of LinkedIn, but at least now I have something with which to experiment.

 Adding someone as a friend, though, did create the dilemma of trying to indicate the relationship.  As you can see in the picture to the left (click for larger image), I'm asked to indicate my relationship with fellow blogger Ken Camp.    We haven't lived or worked together... or been part of an organization... or taken a course or went to school.  I guess you could say we "Traveled together" in the sense that we've attended the same conferences... but that's not really the intent.  We didn't "meet randomly" and we certainly haven't "hooked up" (assuming my interpretation of that is correct! ;-) or dated.  He's not family and we didn't meet through a friend or through Facebook.

So how do I specify the relationship?  There isn't a category for "Met through blogging" or "Met through social media"... "listened to his podcasts"... etc.  There's a missing category there - or the need for an "other".  In the meantime, I've just left it blank.

To the others of you out there with Facebook accounts, what have you done in this situation?