This article explains the difference between Yahoo! connections and Answers Network.

Your Answers Network is the collection of fans and contacts you have on Answers. Currently, you can control if you want to share your questions and answers with your Answers Network via the Privacy options on your Answers profile.

Your Yahoo! connections are people you have connected to via your Yahoo! profile. These maybe some of your Answers contacts but may also be contacts from elsewhere on Yahoo! Updates gives you the opportunity to share your activity on Answers with these Yahoo! connections.