LinkedIn's Most Unusual Members: Meet The Super-Connected

LinkedIn open networkers, or LIONs, accept almost all LinkedIn connection requests and introduce strangers out of good will. Here's a look at this controversial group and its approximately 16,000 members who'd like to be known as the saints of social networking, but are sometimes called spammers.

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"My phone has been ringing pretty steadily," Herschberg says. "You never know where your next opportunity will come from. I have, over the years, been contacted by people who I never would have come in contact with if it hadn't been for LinkedIn. No, I don't know of all of them. But we come across thousands of people over the course of our careers."

Herschberg adheres to some typical LION principles: with few exceptions (mostly spam), he accepts all invitations to connect. Herschberg also serves another role on the network: he introduces disparate strangers looking to connect. He admits that bridging two connections works better when he knows the two people involved. He also notes you must watch out for bad actors.

"Some open networkers are just name collectors or they just market [products] to people," Herschberg says. "But for many of us, the 'paying it forward' is what's most important and why we do it."

Burda, for his part, doesn't just connect people in one vertical industry sector. He doesn't care if you have 25 connections or 2,500. On his LinkedIn profile page, hotel managers, consultants, accountants, CEOs, bankers, auditors, and IT managers sing his praises, with recommendations thanking him for his help.

Edwin Thomas, an Indianapolis-area health care strategist, summed it up for the cynics on a recommendation he posted to Burda's profile.

"Steven is everything he claims," he wrote. "I asked Steven for a connection to a very senior level executive at a leading health care plan. In a matter of minutes, Steven responded with 'I will help you.' First thing the next morning, Steven's message to me said, 'Done.' He is genuine."

Despite the LIONs' differences in networking philosophy with LinkedIn, Burda hopes the two groups can get along. He talks about the social network's future with great passion, noting the likelihood of an IPO and future growth.

"People sometimes think 'open networker' means you're a spammer," he says. "But for me, that's not true. I value my people and value my connections. There are bad apples who come in, sure, but in general people often just want to help each other. It makes me feel great about what I'm doing."