I agree that perception is important. I also think that there is a growing cult of celebrity in larger society that makes people famous for being famous (think: Levi Johnston) and that it’s easy to be awed by social media practitioners with tens of thousands of contacts.

That being said, some of the people with many, many contacts are actually quite good at what they do: connecting people with similar or disparate interests to each other and facilitating the “weak ties” that allow you and I to ask a question on Vark and have it answered within minutes, accurately, by someone halfway around the world whom we’ve never met.

I have two suggestions for ferreting out the people who say they’re famous in social media and are actually not so famous — or, as you say, gaming the system — and they are relatively easy to implement. First, engage in a true conversation with the networker. Pick up the phone and talk to them, or send them a heartfelt email. I’ve had the experience of meeting a new friend with lots of teach me (great) and the experience of feeling that I’d walked into a timeshare presentation (sub-optimal). Second, you can find through various sources what other people say about the networker. If all references are positive (or most), then you’ve found someone for whom numbers of connections and the quality of that connection are in sync.

Thanks for your post — great thoughts!

-Greg