LinkedIn’s “Find Nearby” feature allows users to connect with other LinkedIn members who are physically close to them. This can be useful for networking with professionals in your city or industry. However, some users have reported that the Find Nearby feature no longer seems to work properly. In this article, we’ll look at whether Find Nearby is still functional on LinkedIn and how you can use it if so.
What is LinkedIn’s Find Nearby Feature?
LinkedIn’s Find Nearby tool was launched in 2011 as a way for users to make connections with other professionals in their geographic area. Using the GPS capabilities of smartphones, Find Nearby generates a list of LinkedIn members near your current location. You can then browse their profiles and potentially connect with them if you share a common interest or business need.
The Find Nearby feature has gone through a few iterations over the years. Originally it only worked on LinkedIn’s mobile app. In 2014, LinkedIn revamped Find Nearby to work on desktop as well. Users could grant access to their location and then view LinkedIn profiles of members near them.
The potential benefits of Find Nearby include:
- Networking with professionals who work at nearby companies
- Connecting with individuals in your industry located in your city
- Making contacts for your business among local professionals
- Discovering professional events happening nearby
In theory, Find Nearby provides an easy way to build your local professional network on LinkedIn. But does it still work as intended?
Complaints That Find Nearby Is Not Working
While Find Nearby offers the promise of networking within your geographic community, some LinkedIn users report problems using the feature. Complaints from users include:
- Empty or outdated results – Find Nearby shows profiles of members who are no longer in the area.
- Irrelevant results – Profiles displayed are not based on location and include members far away.
- Too few results – Only a handful of profiles at most are displayed in Find Nearby.
- “No results found” error – Find Nearby often fails to generate any profiles near the user.
Some users speculate that LinkedIn deactivated the location services aspect of Find Nearby. Others wonder if privacy or legal concerns led LinkedIn to limit the capabilities of the tool. But many complain Find Nearby is now essentially useless compared to its earlier functionality.
Why Find Nearby Results May Be Limited
There are a few possible reasons why LinkedIn’s Find Nearby feature may not be producing robust results for users anymore:
- Limited adoption – For accurate location-based networking, Find Nearby requires widespread uptake from LinkedIn members. However, many members may still not enable Find Nearby due to privacy hesitations or simply not knowing about the feature.
- GPS limitations – The GPS capabilities of devices are not always precise, especially when indoors. This can lead to inaccurate nearby results.
- Irregular usage – Since most people don’t use LinkedIn throughout the day, the pool of active users near you at any given moment may be very small.
- Algorithm issues – LinkedIn may still be working on fine-tuning their Find Nearby algorithm to generate maximally relevant results.
Essentially, realizing the full potential of a location-based networking feature requires wide participation from users as well as strong technology capabilities. Growing adoption and improving the technology could potentially improve Find Nearby’s functionality over time. But for now, inconsistent results continue to frustrate some users.
How to Use Find Nearby on LinkedIn
If you wish to give the Find Nearby tool a try, here is how you can access it on LinkedIn:
- Open the LinkedIn app on your mobile device or navigate to LinkedIn.com on your desktop.
- Make sure your profile location field is filled out with your city and state or just city.
- For mobile, tap the “My Network” icon at the bottom.
- On desktop, click the “Network” icon at the top.
- Look for the “Find Nearby” link on the next screen.
- Clicking “Find Nearby” will trigger a location permission prompt. Accept this to generate nearby results.
Once nearby profiles load, you can scroll through them and click into any you would like to connect with further. Here are some tips for using Find Nearby effectively if you get good results:
- Tailor any connection request messages to the recipient’s profile and focus on shared interests or opportunities to help each other.
- Pay attention to the number of shared connections you may have with a nearby member. More connections in common may make them more receptive to connecting.
- Don’t spam connect requests. Be selective in who you reach out to for a more positive networking experience.
Alternative Ways to Network Locally
If LinkedIn’s Find Nearby feature is not working well in your area, here are a few other ways to network and connect with professionals locally:
Use Other Local Networking Apps and Sites
Apps like Nextdoor, Meetup, and Shapr offer location-based networking and connection capabilities that may have more robust local participation in some areas compared to LinkedIn Find Nearby.
Attend Local Professional Events
Look for relevant conferences, seminars, workshops, and networking events happening in your city. These provide excellent opportunities to connect in-person with other professionals.
Search Profiles by Location
You can search LinkedIn for profiles within a certain geographic radius of a city or zipcode. Then filter by industry to discover local professionals in your field.
Ask for Introductions
If you have connections who are familiar with professionals in your area, ask to be introduced. A warm introduction can help start relationships.
The Future of Location-Based Networking
While Find Nearby may not currently be widely useful on LinkedIn, location-aware networking still likely has a bright future as technology improves. Here are a few ways location-based networking could evolve:
- Integration with mapping/navigation apps for serendipitous networking.
- Location-based networking at events and conferences via RFID tags or NFC tech.
- Partnerships with venues, restaurants and more to enable networking between patrons.
- Virtual reality worlds with networking based on simulated location and proximity.
As GPS, mobile devices, wearables and other technologies continue advancing, expect more innovative integrations between the physical and digital worlds for networking. LinkedIn may still have an opportunity to expand and perfect location-based features over time. But for now, be prepared to use Find Nearby as just one option in building local professional connections, rather than counting on it as a primary tool.
Conclusion
LinkedIn’s Find Nearby feature shows promise for location-based networking, but inconsistent results mean it may not be reliable enough for many users yet. Limitations in adoption, GPS accuracy, active users, and LinkedIn’s own algorithms likely contribute to underwhelming results. While LinkedIn could still improve Find Nearby going forward, for now it is better used selectively as part of a broader local networking strategy. Attending events, leveraging other apps, and asking for introductions can also connect you with professionals in your area. As technology progresses, LinkedIn and other platforms will likely find ways to better leverage location data for networking. But human-centered techniques still play the most vital role in building strong local professional relationships.
