What does connections mean on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a professional social networking site used by over 722 million people worldwide. On LinkedIn, users create profiles to represent themselves professionally and connect with other professionals in their industry or location. One of the core features of LinkedIn is making connections with other users.

What is a connection on LinkedIn?

A connection on LinkedIn refers to a user that you are connected with on the platform. When you connect with someone on LinkedIn, you become first-degree connections. This allows you to view each other’s profiles, see mutual connections, message each other, and engage with their content and activity on the platform.

To connect with someone on LinkedIn, you can send them an invite which they can accept or ignore. Alternatively, if someone sends you a connection invite, you can accept it to become connected. You can also import contacts from your email and connect with people you already know who are on LinkedIn.

Why make connections on LinkedIn?

There are several benefits to making connections on LinkedIn:

• Expand your professional network – Connecting with more professionals in your industry allows you to grow your network and opportunities.
• Stay in touch – Easily keep up with former colleagues, classmates, clients, vendors, etc. who you want to maintain a relationship with.
• Get introduced – Connections can introduce you to someone you want to know through a mutual connection.
• Business development – Connecting with prospects, potential partners, etc. can help drive business development.
• Recommendations – Connections can write you recommendations which help showcase your skills and credibility.
• Increase visibility – Having more connections makes you appear more established on LinkedIn.

In summary, the bigger your high-quality network on LinkedIn, the more opportunities it can lead to in terms of jobs, prospects, expertise, ideas, and professional advancement. Connecting with the right people serves as a strategic boost for your career.

How many connections should you have?

There is no ideal number of connections everyone should aim for on LinkedIn. The number of connections appropriate for you depends on your professional role and goals for using LinkedIn. Here are some benchmarks:

• Most LinkedIn users have between 150-300 connections
• Middle managers and senior professionals often have 500-1000+ connections
• Executives, recruiters, sales professionals, etc. often have 1000-5000+ connections

Rather than focus on a number, it’s more important to connect with professionals relevant to your industry, location, profession, employers, alma maters, skills, interests, goals, and existing contacts. Quality connections who can exchange mutually beneficial engagement are more valuable than generic contacts who do not interact.

How to send a connection request

Here are the steps to send a connection request on LinkedIn:

1. Search for the profile of the person you want to connect with using the search bar or browsing options.
2. Go to their profile and click on the “Connect” button on the top right.
3. A window will pop up allowing you to customize the connection invitation. You can choose to include a note and add your name so they know who you are.
4. Click the “Send” button to send your invitation to connect.

Once you send the request, the person will receive a notification that you want to connect. They can then accept or ignore your request. If they accept, you will become first-degree connections on LinkedIn.

How to accept a connection request

To accept a connection request you’ve received on LinkedIn:

1. Go to the notifications dropdown on the top right and click “Invitations”.
2. This will show you pending connection requests and messages.
3. Find the connection request and click “Accept”.
4. You can also click “Ignore” to dismiss the request or “Message” to send the person a note.
5. Once you accept the request, you will become connected on LinkedIn.

Accepting relevant requests can help you expand your professional network. But always review each request carefully before accepting to ensure the person is known or beneficial to connect with.

How to view your connections

To see the professionals you are connected with on LinkedIn:

1. Go to your profile and click “See all connections” under the Connections section.
2. This will show you your list of 1st degree connections.
3. You can filter your connections by industry, company, location, school attended, and how you’re connected.
4. Click a connection’s name to visit their full profile and engage with their content.

Reviewing your connections helps you audit your network and identify key contacts for outreach when needed.

How to remove a connection

If you want to remove a connection on LinkedIn, you can unconnect from that person:

1. Go to their profile and click the three dots icon next to “Connect”.
2. Select “Unconnect” to remove the connection.
3. You will have the option to provide feedback on why you are removing the connection.
4. The person will no longer appear in your connections list.

Reasons you may want to remove a connection include changed circumstances, inappropriate behavior, inactive account, or making room to connect with more relevant contacts.

Difference between 1st, 2nd & 3rd degree connections

LinkedIn classifies your connections into three degrees based on their closeness to you:

• 1st degree – You are directly connected to them.
• 2nd degree – They are connected to your 1st degree connections.
• 3rd degree – They are connected to your 2nd degree connections.

You can see all profiles on LinkedIn up to 3rd degree connections. But the closer someone is connected to you, the more interaction and visibility you will have. Focus on growing your 1st degree network first.

Ways to grow your LinkedIn connections

To expand your professional network on LinkedIn, try these approaches:

• Import contacts from your email, phone, and other social media accounts like Facebook.
• Connect with colleagues from current and past jobs.
• Find and connect with professionals who work at companies you want to target.
• Connect with fellow alumni from schools you attended.
• Join relevant LinkedIn Groups based on your interests and engage with members.
• Follow companies you want to work with and connect with their employees.
• Connect with people who engage with your posts and content.
• Use search filters like location, industry, skills to discover professionals to connect with.
• Upgrade to a premium LinkedIn account to unlock features like InMail for more proactive outreach.

Focus on quality over quantity and connect with professionals most aligned to your goals and able to mutually support each other.

Tips for managing LinkedIn connections

Here are some best practices for managing your LinkedIn network:

• Personalize invites – Include a customized message when sending connection invites so the recipient knows who you are.
• Segment connections – Organize your connections into relevant lists and groups you can target.
• Stay engaged – Like and comment on your connections’ posts, send messages etc. Don’t just connect and abandon.
• Give value – Share useful content, opportunities etc. with your network to provide value.
• Follow up – After connecting with someone, follow up to build the relationship further.
• Provide recommendations – Write recommendations for your high value connections to strengthen the relationship.
• Keep it professional – Avoid overly promotional or salesy behaviors when engaging your network.
• Clear out dormant connections – Remove connections that are no longer active or relevant to focus on more beneficial relationships.

By proactively managing your connections, you can maximize the value of your LinkedIn network for your career goals.

Common FAQs about LinkedIn connections

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about LinkedIn connections:

Does connecting on LinkedIn notify the other person?

Yes, when you send a connection invite the other user will receive a notification alerting them to your request. They can then choose to accept or ignore it.

Is there a limit to how many connections you can have?

There is no official limit to the number of 1st degree connections you can have on LinkedIn. Some users have networks of over 10,000+ connections. However, you may find managing an extremely large network becomes less beneficial.

Can you see who viewed your profile without paying?

The LinkedIn free account only shows the last 5 profiles that viewed yours. To see more profile views, you would need a Premium account.

Should you connect with someone you don’t know?

It’s best to only connect with professionals on LinkedIn who you know and would mutually benefit from being connected with. Avoid sending random connection invites as this can come across as spammy.

Can I change the order of my connections?

Yes, you can manually rearrange the order in which connections appear when you view your connections list. Simply drag and drop contacts using the handles on the right.

What network size appears most influential?

500+ connections is generally considered to be an established network size on LinkedIn. However, it’s quality not quantity that matters most when judging someone’s influence and credibility.

Conclusion

Your network of professional connections is a vital asset on LinkedIn. Connecting with the right people opens up more opportunities and advantages for your career. Be selective and purposeful when sending connection invites and managing your network. The more value you exchange with quality connections, the greater both sides can mutually benefit.