LinkedIn is a popular social media platform used primarily for professional networking and career development. One of LinkedIn’s features is private browsing, which allows users to visit profiles and view content on LinkedIn without that activity being logged into their account history or used by LinkedIn to personalize their experience.
When private browsing is turned off on LinkedIn, it means any profiles you view or content you engage with will be added to your browsing history and factored into how LinkedIn tailors its platform to you. Your identity is also visible to others while private browsing is disabled.
Here’s a more in-depth look at what turning off private browsing does on LinkedIn:
Browsing History
With private browsing disabled, any profiles, posts, or other content you view will be logged into your browsing history on LinkedIn. This browsing history is visible to you under the “Viewed” section on your profile.
When private browsing is on, nothing you view will be added to this browsing history. It will be as if you never viewed those profiles or content.
Having an extensive browsing history isn’t necessarily bad. It can serve as a handy record of people and posts you’ve engaged with. However, some users prefer keeping their profile views private for privacy reasons.
Personalized Experience
LinkedIn uses the browsing history and account activity of its users to customize the platform experience. With private browsing off, LinkedIn has more data to leverage for personalization.
For example, if you view many software engineer profiles, you may see more job recommendations and content geared towards software engineering. Related companies and groups may be suggested to you as well.
With private browsing enabled, LinkedIn does not collect this type of view activity for personalization. You may encounter more generic content and recommendations instead.
Identity Visible to Others
When you view someone’s profile with private browsing disabled, the account owner will be able to see that your profile visited theirs. Your name and headline will appear in the “Who’s viewed your profile” section on their page.
With private browsing on, your visit will not be recorded. You can view profiles without the account owners being notified in any way. This allows for discreet research.
Reminders
LinkedIn uses your browsing history to trigger reminders about people you’ve recently viewed. For example, if you look at someone’s profile that you are connected with, LinkedIn may later remind you to reach out and say hello.
With private browsing enabled, you will not receive reminders based on your browsing because LinkedIn does not have a record of it. Any reminders will be based only on your existing connections and recently messaged accounts.
Ads
Like most social platforms, LinkedIn displays targeted advertisements based on user data and activity. When private browsing is off, LinkedIn has more information about your professional interests and can serve ads it thinks may be relevant.
With private browsing on, fewer data points are available for generating targeted ads. You may see more generic LinkedIn ads instead of ones tailored specifically for you.
Job Recommendations
Based on the content you view and engage with, LinkedIn may recommend jobs to you that it thinks match your interests and experience. With private browsing off, LinkedIn has more user data to power better job matching.
The jobs suggested in your LinkedIn feed are likely to be more relevant when private browsing is disabled. Turning it on means job recommendations will be dependent only on the data in your profile.
Profile Views
As mentioned earlier, when private browsing is off, people will be notified when you view their profile. Your name and headline will show up on their page view history.
With private browsing enabled, your profile views are anonymous. You can conduct research and learn about other professionals without them knowing you visited their profile.
Search History
Your LinkedIn search history is maintained as you look up people, companies, jobs, content, and more. This history is visible to you and helps LinkedIn improve its search algorithm.
Private browsing prevents any searches you perform from being added to your account’s search history. Searches are not logged.
Newsfeed Content
The posts, articles, and multimedia that appear in your LinkedIn newsfeed are tailored based on your profile, activity, and preferences. Private browsing off means more data for LinkedIn to customize your feed.
With private browsing on, your feed may appear more generic and potentially less relevant since fewer data points are available for personalization.
Profile View Notifications
LinkedIn lets you know when other users view your own profile. These notifications can provide useful insights into who is looking at your profile and why.
When private browsing is enabled across the platform, fewer profile view notifications will occur since people’s browsing activity is hidden. You have less visibility into who is researching you on LinkedIn.
Group Activity
For LinkedIn Groups you have joined, group activity notifications are informed by your level of engagement within each group. With private browsing off, LinkedIn has more data about your interests.
You may see an increase in group notifications when not using private browsing. LinkedIn has more visibility into the types of discussions and posts you want to see updates about.
Spotlight
LinkedIn may showcase you or your content in Spotlight sections like “Who’s viewed your profile” and “You’re in the spotlight.” With private browsing disabled, LinkedIn has more signals to identify active professionals for the spotlight.
You have a greater chance of being recommended in LinkedIn Spotlight when you are not using private browsing. Your publicly viewable activity helps qualify you for special showcases.
Profile Discovery
LinkedIn surfaces profile recommendations of people you may know or want to connect with. This is based on your network, activity, school and employer history, and other data.
More profile recommendations will typically occur when private browsing is off, since LinkedIn has a broader view of your professional interests and preferences. Profile discovery is more generic with private browsing enabled.
Content Recommendations
In addition to showing posts from your connections, LinkedIn recommends relevant articles, videos, and other content based on what you engage with while not in private browsing mode.
With private browsing on, LinkedIn does not have this behavioral data to power targeted content recommendations. You may encounter more random or globally trending content instead of posts tailored for someone with your professional profile and interests.
Advertiser Visibility
Businesses who sponsor content and run ads on LinkedIn gain visibility into the people engaging with their promotions. Your private browsing activity is hidden from these advertisers and sponsors.
When private browsing is disabled, advertisers may be able to see certain analytics about your engagement with their content depending on your account settings. You have more control over this visibility when browsing privately.
Web Tracking
With private browsing off, your activity on external sites may be tracked when you click on LinkedIn posts containing outside links. These sites receive your username and can connect your browsing to your LinkedIn identity.
Private browsing prevents this cross-site tracking. Your identity and behavior on external sites is not linked back to your LinkedIn account when clicking links.
Location Data
LinkedIn may infer your location from your profile, activity on the platform, and other signals.precise location data. This helps serve localized content and suggestions.
Private browsing limits the collection of location-related data. Features powered by location like nearby suggestions may be less personalized as a result.
Connection Notifications
When you connect with someone on LinkedIn, notifications are displayed to signal the new connection. With private browsing off, LinkedIn has more context about your relationships and networks.
You may notice more notifications about new connections when not browsing privately. LinkedIn uses your activity history to determine which connections are most relevant to notify you about.
Profile Performance
LinkedIn provides metrics around your profile views and content engagement. With private browsing disabled, this profile performance data is more comprehensive.
Metrics like who’s viewed your posts and which content gets the most engagement will be lower when browsing privately since fewer views are tracked.
Summary of Changes
Here is a summary of the key changes that occur when disabling private browsing on LinkedIn:
Feature | Private Browsing ON | Private Browsing OFF |
---|---|---|
Browsing history | Not logged | Logged visibly |
Personalization | More generic | More customized |
Identity visible to others | Hidden | Visible |
Reminders | Less relevant | More relevant |
Ads | Less targeted | More targeted |
Job recommendations | Less relevant | More relevant |
Profile views notified | No | Yes |
Search history | Not logged | Logged privately |
Newsfeed content | More generic | More customized |
Profile view notifications | Fewer | More |
Group activity notifications | Less relevant | More relevant |
Spotlight recommendations | Fewer | More |
Profile discoveries | Less personalized | More personalized |
Content recommendations | Less relevant | More relevant |
Advertiser visibility | Limited | Expanded |
Web tracking | Prevented | Enabled |
Location data | Limited | Expanded |
Connection notifications | Fewer | More |
Profile performance metrics | Lower | Higher |
Conclusion
In summary, turning off private browsing on LinkedIn means your activity will be logged, your identity made public, and LinkedIn will have more data to customize and personalize your experience. Key things like browsing history, reminders, ads, suggestions, and notifications become more tailored without private browsing mode enabled. You also have greater visibility into the activity occurring on your own profile and content. However, the tradeoff is reduced privacy as your actions are tracked and your profile views made visible. Understanding these impacts allows you to decide when to browse privately or publicly based on your personal preferences and professional networking objectives on LinkedIn.