LinkedIn uses advanced algorithms and data analysis to suggest connections for its users. The platform looks at multiple factors to determine which people you may know or want to connect with on LinkedIn.
Your Contacts
The most basic way LinkedIn suggests connections is by looking at the contacts you already have added to your account. For example, if you connect your email account to LinkedIn, it can scan your email contacts and suggest people you have emailed with before.
LinkedIn will compare the email addresses and names of your existing contacts to its database of users. If it finds matches, it will suggest those individuals as connections. This is an easy way for LinkedIn to surface people you likely know but haven’t connected with on the platform yet.
Your Organization and Education
In addition to contacts, LinkedIn looks at your work and education history. If you have added your current company and school to your profile, LinkedIn will suggest colleagues who also work or studied there.
For example, if you went to Stanford University, you will probably get connection suggestions for other Stanford alumni. The same goes for co-workers at your current or former employers. LinkedIn has data on where millions of people have worked and went to school, making it easy to surface potential connections.
Shared Connections
Another simple and common way LinkedIn suggests connections is by looking at your existing network. If one of your connections is also connected to someone you don’t know, LinkedIn will likely suggest them. The platform uses the logic that if you’re both connected to the same person, you probably know each other in some capacity.
The number of shared connections is also factored in. If you and another user have 50 mutual connections, LinkedIn will place more weight on suggesting them versus someone who only has one shared connection.
Your Profile Views and Activity
LinkedIn also looks at who has viewed your profile and your browsing activity. If you look at someone’s profile, even if you don’t connect with them, LinkedIn may suggest them later since it knows you are interested in them for some reason.
Similarly, LinkedIn can see who views and interacts with your profile. It may then assume that person wants to connect with you or knows you in some way. Your profile views and browsing activity provide useful signals about who you might want to connect with.
Keyword Searches
LinkedIn allows you to search for connections by keyword, such as company, school, interests, location, etc. It will remember these searches and make suggestions accordingly.
For example, if you search for people who work at Google, you will probably then see more Google employees recommended even if you don’t send them connection requests. LinkedIn picks up on the keywords you use to tailor future suggestions.
Location Data
Your location and the location of others is another factor LinkedIn may use. If you list your city or metro area in your profile, it can surface users near you as potential connections. The logic is that you are more likely to know people who live and work in geographical proximity.
Even if you don’t add your location, LinkedIn can look at IP addresses during account activity to approximate where you are located. It can then emphasize potential connections in the same region.
Social Media Integration
By connecting other social media accounts like Twitter, LinkedIn can see who you follow or are connected to on those platforms. It can then look for overlaps with LinkedIn users and suggest them as connections.
So if you are following someone on Twitter that also has a LinkedIn profile, there is a good chance LinkedIn will recommend them. Connecting your accounts gives LinkedIn more signals to inform its suggestions.
Profile Details
LinkedIn also utilizes the specific details users add to their profiles like skills, education, interests, volunteering experience, awards, etc. If your profile and someone else’s have significant overlap such as the same skills or interests, LinkedIn may suggest you connect.
For example, if you list “digital marketing” as one of your skills and interests, you are more likely to see digital marketers recommended even if you don’t have any other obvious connection to them. The overlap in skills and interests implies you likely have similar professions and share common ground.
Industry Insights
On a higher level, LinkedIn uses general data and insights about various industries and professions to fuel its suggestions. It has a vast amount of aggregate data on what types of profiles and skills tend to interact and connect with each other on the platform.
This means even without any direct profile and activity overlap, LinkedIn can recommend relevant connections just based on typical networking trends in your industry. The technology sector tends to interact differently than education or healthcare for example.
Group Memberships
The groups you join on LinkedIn are another element used for suggesting connections. If you join groups centered around a specific skill, profession, or interest, you will likely see related connection recommendations.
LinkedIn can grab group members you don’t already know and suggest connecting with them. Since you are both part of the same niche groups, LinkedIn assumes common interests and potential for mutually beneficial networking.
Third-Party Data
In some cases, LinkedIn may incorporate external data from third-party firms to supplement its suggestions algorithms. However, it likely utilizes little third-party data compared to other social networks like Facebook.
LinkedIn recommendations are based almost entirely on direct platform activity and what users share on their profiles. But it’s possible some marketing-related data could aid the process in small ways.
Sponsored Suggestions
Finally, some LinkedIn connection suggestions are sponsored. Companies can pay LinkedIn to promote suggestions for their employees and reps to grow their networks.
When viewing a sponsored suggestion, you will see a small “sponsored” tag. This indicates an ad instead of an organic recommendation based on your specific activity and connections.
Why Does LinkedIn Suggest People?
Now that we’ve explored the various data points LinkedIn uses, let’s discuss why it makes connection suggestions in the first place and how the features benefits users.
Benefits for Individual Users
- Discover new connections organically
- Surface colleagues and contacts you already know
- Network within your industry
- Find people relevant to your interests and goals
- Grow your professional opportunities
Benefits for LinkedIn
- Keep users engaged on platform
- Facilitate interactions and networking between members
- Leverage data to provide personalized suggestions
- Promote professional growth through new connections
- Drive membership growth with relevant suggestions
In summary, suggested connections benefit individual members by enabling efficient networking with relevant professionals. For LinkedIn, the feature helps deliver on the platform’s core value proposition of connecting the world’s professionals.
Connection Suggestions Settings
LinkedIn allows you some customization over how suggestions are made to tailor them to your preferences.
Data Sharing Settings
In your account privacy settings, you can limit the profile data LinkedIn uses for suggestions. Options include:
- Share profile view details
- Share profile edit details
- Allow Open Profile views
Restricting this data will limit some of the signals available to LinkedIn’s algorithms.
Discovery Preferences
You can also select the specific factors and criteria used for suggestions:
- Location
- Industry
- Past searches
- Interests
- Groups
- Skills
- Alumni
Fine-tuning these filters allows you to customize the types of professionals suggested to align with your goals.
Conclusion
In closing, LinkedIn uses a diverse range of data signals and inputs to power its people you may know algorithm. Factors include your existing contacts and network, profile views, activity history, location, shared connections, interests, and job history. Suggested connections allow you to efficiently expand your professional network on LinkedIn with relevant contacts.