LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 750 million members worldwide. As a social media platform focused on career and business connections, LinkedIn offers users the ability to create professional profiles, connect with other professionals in their industry, find jobs, network, and build their personal brand.
LinkedIn accounts come in two main types: free accounts and premium accounts. Free LinkedIn accounts provide users with core social networking features like creating a profile, connecting with other members, joining groups, viewing other users’ profiles, and searching job postings. Premium LinkedIn accounts unlock additional features like seeing full profiles of members who have set their profile to private, advanced searching and filtering, larger InMail allotments for directly contacting anyone on LinkedIn, professional insights about people and companies, access to online learning courses, and more.
LinkedIn Privacy Settings
On LinkedIn, members can choose whether they want their profile to be public or private. Public profiles can be viewed by anyone on LinkedIn, even people you are not connected to. Private profiles are more restricted and can only be seen in full by your 1st-degree connections.
Here are the key differences between public and private profiles on LinkedIn:
| Public Profile | Private Profile |
|---|---|
| Visible to all LinkedIn members | Only visible in full to 1st-degree connections |
| Anyone can send you an invite or InMail message | Only your connections can directly contact you |
| Your photo, experiences, education, etc. are viewable by all | Many profile details hidden from those not connected to you |
The main reason members make their profiles private is to limit visibility and direct contact from people they don’t know on LinkedIn. This gives them more control over their professional brand and network.
Do Premium LinkedIn Members Have Access to Private Profiles?
The short answer is yes – premium LinkedIn members can view private profiles in their entirety while free members can only see limited information. Here are some key differences in what free and premium members can access on private profiles:
For Free LinkedIn Members:
- Can see profile photo
- Can see member’s name
- Can see current position and company
- Can send an invite to connect
- Cannot view full work experience
- Cannot view education history
- Cannot view skills, endorsements, recommendations
- Cannot directly contact member via InMail
For Premium LinkedIn Members:
- Can view profile photo
- Can view full name
- Can view current and past positions
- Can view education history
- Can view skills, endorsements and recommendations
- Can directly contact member through InMail
- Can save member’s profile to maintain access after unconnecting
So premium accounts provide the full view of a private profile as if it was public. The member who set their profile to private is also notified when a premium member views their profile. This allows for more transparency even though premium members can see the full private details.
Reasons Premium LinkedIn Members Can View Private Profiles
There are a few reasons why LinkedIn grants premium members full access to private profiles:
- It encourages more users to upgrade to premium for access to more information.
- Premium members have paid for additional capabilities like more profile views.
- It allows premium members to fully evaluate someone before connecting.
- Lets premium members research someone’s background for sales prospecting.
- Facilitates open communication since InMail can be sent to any member.
For individuals or businesses, viewing full private profiles enables premium users to have more insight on prospective clients, business partners, industry connections, and talent recruitment. This provides value to premium accounts by revealing more details necessary for vetting relationships and opportunities.
Do Premium Accounts Lead to More Unwanted Communication?
A potential downside to premium accounts having access to private profiles is the possibility of more unsolicited outreach. Since premium users can directly message anyone through InMail regardless of their privacy settings, some critics argue this facilitates unwanted communication to private profiles.
However, there are some protections in place to prevent harassment of private accounts by premium members:
- Premium members still need to request a connection before messaging someone.
- InMails have limits and quotas that prevent spamming at scale.
- Members can adjust their messaging preferences or block specific users.
- LinkedIn monitors inappropriate activity and can revoke account privileges.
While allowing premium access to private profiles does open the door for unwanted communication, LinkedIn still has policies and protections to maintain a professional environment.
Should You Make Your LinkedIn Profile Private or Public?
Deciding between a public or private LinkedIn profile depends on your preferences and goals for cultivating your professional network. Here are some factors to consider:
- Public: Allows you to be discovered more easily for networking and opportunities. Open access can enhance your brand and credibility.
- Private: Gives you more control over who can contact you directly. Limit visibility from those you don’t know or trust.
- Current Job: Those in active job searches may want a public profile for discovery. Employed individuals may prefer a private profile.
- Industry/Profession: Public profiles are common in client-facing fields like marketing, sales, IT, etc. Private may suit those in more restricted fields.
Ultimately it’s a personal preference based on your comfort level with open access versus limited visibility. The good news is you can easily switch between public and private as needed to adjust for your current career situation and networking priorities.
Conclusion
Premium LinkedIn memberships provide the ability to view private profiles in their entirety. This allows paying users to access more information about prospective connections, clients, talent, and more based on LinkedIn’s premium tier permissions. However, private profile owners are made aware when premium members view them.
The premium account privileges aim to deliver more value to paying members by unlocking additional capabilities. At the same time, LinkedIn does enforce policies against harassment as a professional social network. Overall, the choice between a public or private profile depends on your preferences around discoverability, open access, and managing incoming communications via your LinkedIn presence.
