[Ads-l] Barry Popik?

[Amy West]

On 9/23/21 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> Date:    Wed, 22 Sep 2021 09:19:47 -0400
> From:    Jesse Sheidlower<jester at PANIX.COM>
> Subject: Re: Barry Popik?
>
> I'm not sure what's so unusual about this. There are different forms of requests, but whether it came from Barry directly or was generated automatically by LinkedIn, why wouldn't you assume that this is accurate?
>
> I am a first-degree connection with Barry on LinkedIn (a site that I find almost totally useless, for what it's worth), and his identifying info on the site is exactly what's being reported here--RPI degrees, JD from Truro, lives in Goshen--and what I know to be true because I know him. The picture is a picture of Barry. If the Barry-like person contacting you is also friends with me (and other language types like Ben Zimmer), you should be extremely sure that it's really our Barry. Whether you want to connect with him there is a separate thing, of course.
>
> Jesse Sheidlower

Was the question originally about whether the invite was 
machine-generated by some algorithm ("Hey, you both know Jesse!") or by 
the human Barry himself?

Accepting in either case is up to you. Take note of Wilson's FB 
experience. In the past, the machine-generated ones have looked a little 
different to me and I have either avoided them or gone and sent an 
invite myself.

---Amy West

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