Posted: On the dubya dubya dubyaSHREVEPORT, La. -- In a feat of innovation and sheer tenacity, a user on LinkedIn, the social networking site, has figured out how to add a "friend" and send him an electronic message.
John P. Lamonte, 67, from Shreveport, La., was using the new computer his daughter recently purchased for him in order to "keep in touch." Once his daughter got his dial-up connection going, he immediately signed up for LinkedIn, a popular social networking site among corporate people who exhibit little to no personality, who usually have few to no real friends and who are attracted to the idea of clicking a button to "add friends" rather than living through another socially awkward occurrence of actually getting to know someone at one of those so-boring-you-want-to-kill-yourself cocktail networking receptions.
"Hi. Just testing to see if this works. Amazing!" he wrote to his next-door neighbor, John Smythe, an independent insurance agent, who is also a LinkedIn user. Lamonte then placed a phone call to Smythe on his Jitterbug brand cell phone just to let Smythe know that he should look for a message from Lamonte shortly. Although he got Smythe's voicemail, Lamonte left a message anyway.
"Hey, John. Guess I got your machine. If you're there, can you pick up? John? Ok, well, I just sent you a message electronically, saying, 'Hi. Just testing to see if this works. Amazing!' Call me back if you get it." He then sat through the full set of voicemail instructions, sending his message with "urgent delivery," before hanging up.
