LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 690 million users worldwide. As a platform built around making connections and networking, LinkedIn encourages users to connect with as many people as possible. However, some LinkedIn users prefer to keep their connections more private and selective. So can you keep your LinkedIn connections private? Let’s take a closer look.
Making Connections on LinkedIn
Connecting with other professionals is one of the main benefits of LinkedIn. It allows you to expand your network, keep in touch with colleagues, discover potential clients or partners, and get introduced to new opportunities. When you connect with someone on LinkedIn, they gain access to your profile information and can view your connections list (unless you change the default settings).
LinkedIn operates on a principle of openness and transparency when it comes to networks. The platform is designed to help you meet more professionals in your industry, discover common connections, and build your online reputation. Having an expansive network looks good to potential employers or clients. It shows you are established in your field and have many valuable connections.
Some LinkedIn users take connecting to an extreme, sending invitations to connect to anyone and everyone in hopes of growing their networks into the thousands. However, most experts recommend focusing on quality over quantity when building your LinkedIn network. Making meaningful connections with those you know and trust is better than connecting randomly with strangers.
Keeping Your Connections Private
Despite LinkedIn’s focus on transparency, the platform does allow you to exercise some control over the privacy of your connections list. Here are a few options:
- Adjust profile visibility settings – You can limit who can see your LinkedIn connections to only 1st-degree connections or further limit it to just your connections. The default is usually set to allow all LinkedIn members to see your connections.
- Selectively accept connection requests – Carefully evaluate each request rather than accepting every invitation. Look for shared connections, experience, or interests first.
- Proactively cull your connections – Periodically review your connections list and remove contacts you no longer want access to your full profile. The fewer connections you have, the more private your network will be.
- Create a private account – LinkedIn allows you to change your public profile to a private account. This means only your direct connections will be able to view your profile and connections list. However, this defeats some of the main purposes of LinkedIn networking.
- Block specific connections – Rather than removing a connection completely, you can block them from viewing parts of your profile while staying connected. You’ll remain visible in their connections list but can control what they see.
- Use anonymous mode – When viewing other profiles, you can enable anonymous mode to privately browse without the other user being notified. They won’t see you in their “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” list.
In your LinkedIn account settings under “Privacy,” you can adjust exactly who can see your list of connections. The options include:
- Your connections only
- Your connections and their connections
- All LinkedIn members
By default, the setting is usually set to “Your connections and their connections” or “All LinkedIn members.” But changing this to the most private “Your connections only” limits visibility of your network significantly.
Considerations Before Limiting Connections Privacy
While it is possible to keep your LinkedIn connections more private, doing so involves trade-offs. Here are some things to consider before restricting the visibility of your connections list:
- Reduced networking opportunities – Obscuring your connections prevents new contacts from discovering mutual connections with you. This can limit relationship-building potential.
- Less ability to stand out – Your number of connections is a credibility signal. A sparse network may damage your professional reputation on LinkedIn.
- Suspicion of contacts – When connections can’t view your full network, they may wonder what you are trying to hide.
- Difficulty getting recommendations – If connections cannot see all the people you are connected to, they are less likely to provide recommendations.
- Decline of your LinkedIn presence – Since connections are key to LinkedIn’s functionality, limiting them negates some of the main benefits of having a profile.
Essentially, making your LinkedIn connections completely private defeats the purpose of networking on the platform. It can come across as secretive and counterproductive.
Balancing Openness and Privacy
Rather than completely concealing your connections, it is usually better to find a balance between open networking and privacy controls. Here are some suggested best practices:
- Be selective about who you connect with initially, and periodically review and prune your connections list.
- Use anonymous browsing when you want to privately view other member profiles.
- Customize your profile visibility settings based on your comfort level, leveraging options like blocking specific connections.
- Focus on building genuine connections, not just expanding numbers.
- When accepting invites, look for personalized messages rather than generic ones.
- Control the information in your profile that your connections can see, like customizing your public profile URL.
With the right balance, you can maintain an expansive LinkedIn network to fuel new opportunities, while still managing privacy. Limit visibility and access around your connections selectively rather than restricting access entirely.
Conclusion
While LinkedIn is designed for transparent networking, the platform does offer some options to limit the visibility of your connections list. Settings controlling profile visibility and anonymous browsing allow for more privacy. However, obscuring all your connections can negate many of the benefits of LinkedIn networking. The best approach is to be selective about connections, leverage privacy controls judiciously, and focus on quality over quantity of connections.