References and Recommendations - The WOM 'Like' Button

Ever recommended someone? An agency, vendor, recruit, consultant, opening? In retrospect, ever looked back at the quality of the recommendation and wondered if it would jeopardize your relationship with either person?

A recommendation is a Word Of Mouth (WOM) 'Like' button. [Even Facebook gives you an option of Like/Recommend when embedding the button on a site :)] It's strength is what matters to me the most though. While I do recommend based on prior experience, it might not necessarily be a *work* experience; it could be based on vigor, very obvious effort taken in a past setting, multiple WOM thumbs ups', timelines adhered, ethics validated, economic viability (trust me, cheap is not always good) and ergonomics. Isnt that how LinkedIn recommendations work too, both for profiles and products? Isn't that how Orkut 'Testimonials' used to work too (nostalgia, much)?
Also, hitting the 'Like' button is not enough, when recommending for other than any of the above reasons, I always ensure to leave a 'Comment' below with either a Have-never-worked-with-them-Feel-free-to-grill/reject Disclaimer OR an obvious reason for placing a finger on them, Heard-they're-cheapest/fastest/best-in-the-market types..

Based on what do you recommend?

And whom do you think of first? The person you recommend - helping or boosting their face value OR the person you're recommending to - To not have them duped, to deliver better quality, to get a job done faster. cheaper. prettier. cleaner?

Also do you demand your pound of flesh in due course for the brownie points earned via the recommendation? A favour, a thumbs up for yourself, a barter trade of business or even a potential job? If yes, then is that a genuine recommendation even? If no, then I hope you know there are very few like you out there ;)