LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 800 million users worldwide. LinkedIn allows users to create professional profiles and connect with other professionals in their industry or location.
One of LinkedIn’s premium features is LinkedIn Premium, which provides users with additional benefits like being able to see more profile information about other users, advanced search filters, expanded profiles, and more. This leads to an important question – can someone with a LinkedIn Premium account see the profiles of users who have set their profiles to anonymous?
What is LinkedIn Premium?
LinkedIn Premium is LinkedIn’s subscription service that gives users access to premium features on the platform for a monthly or annual fee. There are three levels of LinkedIn Premium:
- Premium Career – $29.99/month
- Premium Business – $49.99/month
- Premium Sales – $79.99/month
Some of the key benefits of LinkedIn Premium include:
- Seeing who viewed your profile
- InMail messages to contact anyone on LinkedIn
- Expanded profile views of others
- Advanced search filters
- Professional learning courses
- Salary insight tools
So in summary, LinkedIn Premium provides users with additional tools and insights beyond the free LinkedIn experience. The higher-tier Premium packages provide greater access to profile information, messaging, and other benefits.
What Does Anonymous Profile Mean on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn allows users to control the visibility of their profile and activity on the platform. One of the settings is the ability to have an “anonymous profile”.
When a LinkedIn member sets their profile to anonymous, their name, photo, headline, and other identifiable information will not be visible to other people viewing their profile. Their profile will essentially appear blank or anonymous, with no identifying details.
Users can still make connections and interact anonymously on LinkedIn with this setting enabled. It simply obscures their personal details from being seen by the general public browsing LinkedIn profiles.
The anonymous setting is intended to give LinkedIn members more control over their privacy and public visibility. It can be useful for job seekers who don’t want their current employer knowing they are looking, or professionals who simply want to keep a lower profile on LinkedIn.
Can People With Premium Accounts See Anonymous Profiles?
So now that we understand LinkedIn Premium and Anonymous Profiles, we get to the key question – can someone who is paying for LinkedIn Premium see the profiles and identity of members who have set their profile to anonymous?
The short answer is no. Even with a Premium account on LinkedIn, the anonymous settings on other users’ profiles remain in effect. Premium accounts do not override someone’s anonymous settings.
Some key points:
- Anonymous profiles appear blank and display no identifiable info, even to Premium subscribers.
- Premium account holders can send InMail messages to anonymous profiles, but the anonymous user’s identity remains hidden.
- Advanced search filters in Premium do not uncover anonymous profile details.
- Profile views by Premium members do not show additional info for anonymous accounts.
LinkedIn’s anonymous setting would be pointless if it could easily be overridden by Premium members. Part of providing this anonymous option is giving assurances that your private details stay private, regardless of other members’ account status.
What Visibility Does Premium Provide?
While Premium does not identify anonymous users, it does provide additional visibility in other ways, such as:
- Seeing profiles of people who have viewed your profile.
- Expanded profiles with additional work experience, education, Licenses & Certifications, Volunteer Experience, and Accomplishments.
- Advanced filtering options for search like Current Company, Past Company, School, Location, Industry, etc.
- Salary Insights to see estimated salary ranges for positions.
- Skills profile data to identify skills that members have listed.
So Premium does enhance visibility and insights into other members’ profiles, above what is available to free users. But the anonymity settings remain fully in effect and cannot be circumvented.
Examples of Anonymity Remaining Intact
To illustrate further how anonymity remains intact for Premium users, here are some examples:
Blank / Empty Profiles
When viewing an anonymous user’s profile, Premium members will simply see a blank profile with no identifying information – the same view a free user would see. Names, photos, positions, education, etc. are all hidden from view.
InMail Messages
Premium members can send InMail messages to anonymous profiles to try connecting with them. However, the anonymous user’s real identity will not be visible. They can choose to respond anonymously or reveal their identity at their discretion.
Search Filters
Even when applying advanced search filters like location, current company, or industry, anonymous accounts will not show up in the results if they have hidden this information. Premium search tools do not bypass anonymity settings.
Profile Views
Premium shows you who has viewed your profile recently. However, any views by anonymous users simply show as “Private” – once again their identity is not uncovered.
Limitations of Anonymous Browsing
While anonymity settings provide strong privacy protection on LinkedIn, there are some limitations to bear in mind:
- Direct messages/connection requests reveal your identity to recipients.
- Participating in LinkedIn Groups or Company Pages occurs publicly under your name.
- Anonymous profiles may seem less credible or professional to some.
- Advanced business development tools like InMail are restricted.
- Building connections and networking requires revealing identity.
As a result, members who want to participate actively and build their network will eventually need to reveal their profile details in many cases. But the anonymous setting does serve an important purpose in controlling initial visibility.
Expert Recommendations on Anonymous Browsing
Here are some tips from LinkedIn experts on how to use anonymous browsing most effectively:
- Engage on LinkedIn Groups or Company Pages using an alternate profile to retain anonymity on your main profile.
- When reaching out directly, reveal just the minimum necessary personal details.
- Don’t stay anonymous forever – build connections strategically in ways that advance your goals.
- Anonymous browsing is most useful for observing competitors, networking cautiously, and privacy.
- Pair anonymity with a robust overall privacy strategy on social media platforms.
- Remember anonymous profiles suffer limitations for those seeking extensive engagement.
Finding the right balance between leveraging LinkedIn effectively and retaining your desired privacy is key to getting the most out of anonymous browsing.
Conclusion
In summary, while LinkedIn Premium provides subscribers with enhanced visibility and insights into other member profiles, the anonymous privacy settings remain fully in effect even for Premium accounts. Members who wish to stay anonymous can do so, and their personal details will not be visible even to paying Premium subscribers. However, participating actively on LinkedIn while remaining anonymous comes with some challenges. Overall, anonymity is an important privacy option, though it involves trade-offs with engagement.