LinkedIn’s find nearby feature allowed users to see and connect with other LinkedIn members who are physically close to them. This was a unique social networking feature when it launched back in 2011, but does it still work in 2023?
What was LinkedIn’s find nearby feature?
The find nearby feature on LinkedIn leveraged the GPS capabilities of mobile devices to show users a list of LinkedIn members who were in close physical proximity. This feature only worked on the LinkedIn mobile app, not on the desktop site.
Here’s how it worked: When a user opted into the find nearby setting within the LinkedIn app and had location services enabled, they would see a “Find Nearby” tab within the app. Tapping on this would bring up a list of other LinkedIn members who were nearby, with the closest profiles shown at the top.
Users could then browse through these profiles, viewing profile pictures, current positions, shared connections, and other public information. From there, users had the option to connect with these professionals, message them, or follow their updates.
The find nearby feature was essentially meant to facilitate in-person networking and connecting. It leveraged the location-based capabilities of smartphones to enable users to identify and interact with relevant professionals who just happened to be in close physical proximity at that particular moment in time.
What was the purpose behind find nearby?
LinkedIn’s find nearby feature aimed to replicate and enhance real-world networking digitally. Bumping into someone relevant at an event or conference is great serendipity, and find nearby tried to engineer those types of surprising but valuable encounters within the LinkedIn platform.
In theory, the ability to instantly identify and connect with professionals who are right next to you has enormous value. You’re able to capitalize on the shared context and physical proximity to form more meaningful connections in person. This could lead to potential career opportunities, business deals, mentoring relationships, or simply expanding your professional network.
At the time of launch in 2011, find nearby was especially novel because location-based networking and dating apps like Highlight or Grindr were still emergent technologies. LinkedIn was one of the first major social networks to roll out location-based features to facilitate in-person interactions.
What were the benefits of find nearby?
Here are some of the touted benefits of LinkedIn’s find nearby feature:
- Serendipitous networking – Bumping into the right people at the right moment can be hugely valuable, as many connections are still forged at events, conferences, and gatherings. Find nearby helped manufacture some of those serendipitous encounters digitally.
- Local connections – Having geographically close connections on LinkedIn could lead to opportunities, as it’s often easiest to form professional relationships with those in your city or community.
- Immediate relevance – Since find nearby surfaced profiles of those right next to you, the feature inherently surfaced potentially relevant professionals based on shared location and context.
- In-person interactions – Find nearby was meant to facilitate moving an online connection into a face-to-face interaction, conversation, or relationship. Making connections offline can often be more meaningful.
- Passive networking – Rather than having to actively seek out relevant connections, find nearby passively surfaced them for you based on location.
In theory, find nearby aimed to blend the digital and physical world to help LinkedIn members network in more meaningful ways. The feature tried to leverage location and proximity to improve the relevance of connections and enable in-person interactions.
What were some key drawbacks of find nearby?
Despite its theoretical value, find nearby had some inherent drawbacks:
- Privacy concerns – Many users were uneasy about actively broadcasting their real-time location to strangers on a social network.
- Unwanted interactions – Women in particular voiced concerns about unwanted advances, stalking, or harassment.
- Limited user overlap – In practice, there were often very few relevant LinkedIn users physically close enough to you at any given time for the feature to be truly useful.
- Spam connections – Since find nearby emphasized proximity over actual relevance, some users complained about spam connection requests from strangers who happened to merely be close by.
- Limited contexts – The nearby feature was most applicable in conferences, shared workspaces, or crowded urban areas. It provided less value in sparsely populated suburbs, rural areas, or most daily contexts.
- Quickly outdated – User locations changed rapidly, often making the find nearby results outdated within minutes as users moved. This diminished the feature’s usefulness.
The physical safety, privacy, and spam issues were likely the biggest factors that limited the appeal and viability of find nearby for many LinkedIn members.
Is LinkedIn find nearby still available in 2023?
No, LinkedIn officially discontinued its find nearby feature in 2014, about 3 years after its launch. So as of 2023, the find nearby option no longer exists on LinkedIn.
It’s unclear exactly how widely used the nearby feature was during its short tenure. LinkedIn also hasn’t provided much insight into why the feature was ultimately removed. But it’s likely that the privacy, safety, and spam concerns caused ongoing issues and limited the usefulness of find nearby for many members.
Networking digitally based on physical proximity was an interesting concept. But in practice, it seemed to provide limited value for most LinkedIn users. The drawbacks seemed to outweigh the benefits, prompting LinkedIn to axe the feature after a few years.
Are there any alternatives to find nearby?
A few other social networks and apps have tried to replicate the location-based networking capabilities of LinkedIn’s now defunct find nearby feature:
- Proximity – This app specifically tries to connect nearby professionals, facilitating digital networking based on real-world location.
- Shapr – Billed as “Tinder for networking,” this app connects career-minded professionals based on location and preferences.
- Happn – Something of a dating app and LinkedIn hybrid, Happn connects those who have physically crossed paths in recent hours or days.
- Bumble Bizz – The business/networking offshoot of the Bumble dating app connects career-oriented singles based on location.
However, none of these newer apps have yet matched LinkedIn’s scale or become mainstream. Location-based social networking remains a niche concept. Most users still appear to prefer connecting based on actual shared interests, experiences, and connections rather than simply proximity.
Why did LinkedIn nearby ultimately fail?
Here are some of the likely reasons LinkedIn find nearby didn’t succeed in the long run:
- Limited ongoing value – The location-based value was fleeting. As users moved, the proximity became meaningless.
- Spam and creepiness – Unwanted messages and connection requests created a bad user experience.
- Safety concerns – Many users, especially women, were apprehensive about stalkers or harassers.
- Privacy fears – Broadcasting real-time location to strangers was discomforting to most.
- Not truly useful – In most day-to-day contexts, even conference halls, there just weren’t enough relevant nearby users at any moment.
- The “So what?” factor – Even if you connected, shared proximity alone rarely led to meaningful business opportunities.
The physical world dynamics that make in-person networking valuable, like shared context and organic conversation, were hard to replicate digitally. At best, find nearby felt like a digital imitation of networking rather than creating truly meaningful connections.
Could a “find nearby” social feature ever work?
Creating spontaneous, relevant professional connections on demand based on real-world location remains an intriguing concept. But the repeated failures of find nearby and other location-based networking features suggests inherent challenges.
For digital location networking to work, the platform would likely need:
- Enormous scale – To have enough relevant users physically close enough frequently enough.
- Trusted connections – To avoid spam and harassment.
- Meaningful use cases – Where proximity leads to substantive opportunities and conversations.
- Privacy controls – To alleviate concerns about unwanted location tracking.
The platform would also need to overcome the fleetingness of location-based relevance. As users move, the proximity value diminishes quickly.
Professional context may also matter more than raw proximity. Two users only feet apart see little value if one is an engineer and the other a dermatologist. Shared workspace or conference context creates the relevance.
Overall, location-based networking still appears to be an solution in search of a problem. While in-person interactions remain invaluable, replicating them digitally based on proximity alone appears challenging. But certain niche use cases may yet emerge to prove find nearby’s underlying concept valid, if not via LinkedIn then another platform.
Conclusion
LinkedIn’s find nearby feature represented an attempt to bridge the digital and physical worlds by facilitating networking based on real-world proximity. But concerns around privacy, safety, and limited ongoing utility led LinkedIn to discontinue the feature in 2014.
While alluring in concept, location-based networking has yet to be proved viable at scale. The inherent advantages of in-person connections – shared context, body language, impromptu conversations – remain hard to digitally recreate. Still, some niche applications leveraging location may eventually emerge. But find nearby remains an idea before its time.