Howells.

I’m absolutely exhausted. Today I opened the faucet on new users just a little bit and suddenly loads of people were using the new app, which is extremely exciting and I received some really kind feedback about it and some super useful bug reports and bits and pieces.

But also there were a few questions, which I’ll list and document here, and add to over the next week until I have them properly posted on the main site:

• I got a connection request from X and I don’t know them. Should I accept it? – personally, I’d say no. The aim of Fiftytwo is to have a space where you can share new work, questions, and so forth with a trusted group of people you either know in real life, or are close to each other in other networks. One of the major objectives with Fiftytwo is that there are no follower counts so this doesn’t become a competition of numbers; it’s purely about sharing for its own good.

• Can you find new people with Fiftytwo, or is it only for connecting with people you know? – again, personally I hope the tool will evolve such that I can discover some awesome new people, so there are features in the pipeline that will help on this discovery aspect: one is referrals, which is there right now (but without notifications), and the next will be a recommendation feature where people in your network can big-up people they have worked with and can recommend.

• Can I have a beta invite? – I’m slowly going through the list of @52network followers and inviting those folk whose email addresses I know. Any current beta members can invite other people, but I must reiterate that since we are in beta, please only invite a limited number of people who you know personally, and who you feel will make a great contribution to the network in the early days.

☛