LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 810 million members worldwide. With such a massive userbase, LinkedIn has become an invaluable tool for establishing professional connections and relationships. One interesting question around LinkedIn’s extensive reach is whether every member is connected to every other member within 3 degrees of separation. In other words, is every LinkedIn user just 3 connections away from any other user?
What is a 3rd Degree Connection?
On LinkedIn, your 1st degree connections are people you are directly connected with. Your 2nd degree connections are people who are connected to your 1st degree connections. And your 3rd degree connections are people connected to your 2nd degree connections. So a 3rd degree connection is someone you are separated from by 2 other connections.
For example, if you are connected with John, and John is connected with Sarah, and Sarah is connected with Mike, then Mike is your 3rd degree connection. You → John → Sarah → Mike.
Why 3 Degrees of Separation?
The concept of “six degrees of separation” suggests that any person on Earth can be connected to any other person within 6 steps. LinkedIn posits that professional connections are even closer, with most people just 3 degrees away. This is likely due to the massive size of LinkedIn’s network and the common interests and industries that connect its members.
Analyzing LinkedIn’s 3rd Degree Network
To determine if every LinkedIn member is within 3 connections of every other member, we need to analyze some key statistics about LinkedIn’s network:
LinkedIn By The Numbers
| Total Members | 810 million |
| Monthly Active Users | 280 million |
| New Members Per Month | 10 million |
| Average Connections Per User | 500+ |
As of 2022, LinkedIn has over 810 million total members. Of those, approximately 280 million members are active on a monthly basis. LinkedIn also adds about 10 million new members per month.
Importantly, the average LinkedIn user has over 500 connections. Power users, usually recruiters and sales professionals, can have networks of 5,000+ connections.
LinkedIn’s Degrees of Separation
While LinkedIn does not provide official data on degrees of separation, some analyses have shed light on the topic:
– A 2011 study found that LinkedIn members were 4.74 degrees separated on average.
– According to a 2012 LinkedIn analysis, most members were 3 degrees away from each other.
– A 2021 researcher estimated the average degree of separation was between 3 and 4.
So most studies indicate that the average LinkedIn member is somewhere between 3-5 degrees away from any other member. But given that connection numbers have grown significantly since these studies, it’s likely that the degree of separation has shrunk.
The Power of Exponential Growth
One way to analyze LinkedIn’s degree of separation is to look at network growth mathematically. With over 500 connections per user, any one person’s network grows exponentially with each new degree.
For example, if you have 500 connections, and each of them has 500 more connections, that’s 250,000 2nd degree connections. And those 2nd connections likely have around 125 million connections between them. So even with conservative networking, 3 degrees could easily connect you to over 100 million people.
This principle of exponential growth means that even if LinkedIn members are not directly well-connected, their total number allows most members to be reached within a few degrees.
Factors Limiting 3rd Degree Connections
While LinkedIn’s size and exponential growth point to most members being 3 degrees separated, there are some limiting factors:
Not Everyone Networks Extensively
Having 500+ connections is the average – but the median number of connections is much lower, around 150. And around half of members have less than 50 connections. Not all members are actively networking and connecting. This limits the spread of connections.
Many Connections are Inactive or Fake
Up to 50% of LinkedIn connections are inactive, där emails bounce or accounts lie unused. And fake bot accounts also infiltrate the network. These inactive and fake accounts don’t facilitate real connections.
Connections are Clustered
People tend to connect with others in their same industry, company, school, etc. This clustering effect means connections are not distributed evenly across the whole network. So specific clusters can remain distantly separated.
Geographic Boundaries Exist
While LinkedIn operates globally, language and geographic barriers can separate members into regional clusters. Penetration of LinkedIn also varies greatly be country, further dividing the network.
The Small World Phenomenon
Despite limitations, experts believe most LinkedIn members fall within a 3rd degree of separation, under the “small world” phenomenon.
The small world experiment demonstrated that even sparsely connected networks can reach any participant in a very small number of steps, through random but short bridges between clusters.
LinkedIn is a real-world demonstration of the small world phenomenon. Enough random professional connections exist to bridge the gaps between otherwise disconnected clusters and regions. Thanks to this bridging, most members are no more than 3 degrees separated.
LinkedIn’s Hubs & Long-Tail Shape
Like other social networks, LinkedIn has a long-tail shape with a few very highly connected hubs. The most connected members, usually influencers and sales experts, serve as hubs that bridge connections across the whole network.
Even members in niche professional circles can likely reach these hubs within 1-2 degrees. And the hubs serve as bridges to the rest of LinkedIn’s membership. So hubs dramatically shrink the degrees of separation needed, bringing the average down to ~3.
Factors That Shrink Degrees of Separation
Aside from the networking hubs and “small world” dynamics, some other factors actively decrease LinkedIn’s degrees of separation:
Search and Suggested Connections
LinkedIn offers powerful search features and suggests connections based on workplace, school, interests, and contact history. This helps members directly connect with relevant contacts outside their existing network.
Contact Importing from Email and Phones
Many LinkedIn members opt to import contacts from their email, phone, and other social media. This massively expands their connections beyond their core professional network.
Open Networking Culture
Unlike Facebook’s friends-and-family focus, LinkedIn revolves around openly building connections. The culture encourages connecting with new professional contacts rather than just existing friends.
ABI Invitations
LinkedIn members with open profiles may receive connection invitations automatically generated based on shared connections, experiences, and interests (“ABI invitations”). This allows connections without direct outreach.
The Power of Being a 3rd Degree Away
While an exact statistic is hard to confirm, the preponderance of evidence points to almost any LinkedIn member being within 3 degrees of any other. At most, only a few percentage points of members may exceed a 3rd degree separation, likely those with very sparse networks in niche roles or regions.
Being at most 3 connections away from over 800 million professionals grants significant power:
– Access to leads, partners, investors, and talent outside your immediate network
– Ability to research companies and individuals via shared connections
– Wider reach when broadcasting content and messaging
– Shorter paths for having introductions arranged by mutual connections
This connectivity has made LinkedIn one of the most powerful business tools of the modern age. The ability to rapidly expand your professional network to almost anyone in just a few degrees has greatly democratized access to opportunities.
In summary, while limitations exist, the vast majority of LinkedIn members are no more than 3 degrees separated thanks to network size, exponential growth, small world dynamics, and connection-bridging features. This 3rd degree horizon unlocks immense networking power for every individual user.
Conclusion
Based on LinkedIn’s massive membership, high average connection count, exponential network effects, small world dynamics, and connection-bridging features, the vast majority of members are no more than 3 degrees separated from any other user. Realistically, only a single-digit percentage of members, mostly those with minimal activity or in highly niche roles, are likely separated by 4 or more degrees. For almost any active LinkedIn user, the entire professional world is now just 3 connections away, unlocking immense networking possibilities. While exact statistics are hard to verify definitively, the preponderance of evidence points to a robust 3rd degree horizon for nearly all of LinkedIn’s 800+ million members.