LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional networking sites, with over 740 million members worldwide as of 2021. With so many users, it’s natural to wonder who will be notified when you make a change to your profile. The short answer is that not everyone will see your profile updates, but certain connections and LinkedIn users may be more likely to notice depending on the type of update.
Who Can See Your LinkedIn Profile and Updates
In general, your LinkedIn profile and any updates you make are visible to:
- All LinkedIn members – Anyone can view your public profile on LinkedIn. However, only your connections and their connections can see your full profile details.
- Your LinkedIn connections – Your 1st-degree connections will be most likely to see changes and updates to your profile in their feed.
- 2nd and 3rd-degree connections – Depending on your settings, 2nd and 3rd-degree connections may also see certain profile updates.
- Profile viewers – Those who have viewed your profile recently may be notified of updates you make.
- People notified by email – If you change your headline, location, company, skills, etc., certain connections who have chosen to receive email notifications about you may be notified.
- LinkedIn Premium subscribers – Paid Premium account holders can see all profile visitors and full profiles of all LinkedIn members.
- LinkedIn Recruiters – Recruiters and talent acquisition professionals may also receive notifications about profile changes.
So in summary, while your entire extended network likely won’t see minor updates, your closest connections, recent profile viewers and certain LinkedIn members seeking talent acquisition purposes may be more likely to notice changes.
Does LinkedIn Notify Connections of Profile Updates?
LinkedIn doesn’t automatically notify all of your connections every time you tweak your profile. However, there are a few cases where LinkedIn will proactively send notifications when you update your profile:
- Major profile edits – If you make significant changes like updating your profile photo, job status, company name, headline or location, some of your closest connections will be notified.
- New skills – Adding new skills to your profile may trigger a notification to connections who are knowledgeable about or interested in those skills.
- Shared connections – If you and another member share a lot of connections, LinkedIn may notify them about major profile updates.
- Reached out to recently – If you’ve directly interacted with someone via message or sharing content recently, they are more likely to be notified if you update your profile.
Beyond that, LinkedIn does not automatically inform all of your connections about minor profile tweaks or editing existing information. However, some connections may still come across updates organically in their feed or notifications.
Will My New Job Posting Show in Connections’ Feeds?
When you add a new position or job to your LinkedIn profile, there is a good chance it will show up in your closest connections’ feeds and notifications, especially if it is a major career change. However, it likely won’t appear in every connection’s feeds unless you have a very small network.
Here are some scenarios where your new job posting is more likely to show up:
- You join a new company or take on a significantly different role
- The job change confirms a promotion at your current company
- You connect frequently with the person on LinkedIn
- The person has recently viewed your profile
- You have many shared connections who could spread the update
If it is simply an update to your existing position, the job change is less likely to make a wide appearance across your network’s feeds unless you are a very prolific LinkedIn user.
Will My New Profile Photo Notify Connections?
Changing your LinkedIn profile photo can be one of the quickest ways to trigger notifications across your network. According to LinkedIn, new profile photos result in up to 8 times more profile views. There are a few reasons for this:
- It’s a very visual change that catches the eye
- Humans are wired to recognize and respond to faces
- A new photo conveys a sense of activity on your profile
For these reasons, a updated profile photo is very likely to show up in your closest connections’ feeds and notifications. Wider connections may also notice the change if you are active on LinkedIn with status updates, articles, and sharing content.
Who Receives Notifications When You Connect With Someone?
When you connect with a new member on LinkedIn, here is who will likely be notified about it:
- Your new 1st degree connection – They will be notified that you accepted their connection request or wanted to connect.
- Shared connections – Connections you and the new connection have in common may see notifications about the new tie.
- Recent profile viewers – If someone has viewed your profile recently, they may be notified about the new connection.
In most cases, your entire network is not informed when you add a new connection. The notifications are primarily focused on the new connection, shared ties, and those already engaging with your profile.
Do People Get Notified When You View Their Profile?
One of the most common LinkedIn questions is whether someone is notified when you view their profile. The short answer is no – LinkedIn does not tell members when you specifically view their profile. It only shows them an aggregated number of profile views over a period of time.
There are a few exceptions, such as:
- LinkedIn Recruiters and Sales Navigator users may receive notifications when certain members view their profiles.
- Some premium account holders can see who viewed their profile in the last 90 days, but not real-time notifications.
- You will be notified if you view the profile of someone who has you restricted.
Other than that, regular LinkedIn members cannot see exactly who viewed their profile. So you can browse most member profiles without them knowing.
Who Can See Your LinkedIn Activity and Updates?
Here is a summary of who can see different types of activity and updates on your LinkedIn profile:
| Type of Activity | Who Can See It |
|---|---|
| Profile views | Only you and premium account holders who pay for viewer insights |
| New connections | Your new connection, shared connections, recent profile viewers |
| New position/company | Your closest connections, followers, shared connections |
| New profile photo | All connections, their connections, anyone who interacts with your profile |
| New skills | Connections interested in or knowledgeable about the skill |
| Status updates and articles | All connections, their connections, profile visitors, public depending on settings |
As you can see, major changes like new jobs, connections and profile photos have the biggest chance of being seen across your network. Minor profile edits or viewing other members are less likely to create widespread notifications.
Tips for Updating Your Profile Selectively
If you want to update your LinkedIn profile but don’t necessarily want every connection knowing about it, here are some tips:
- Make updates and changes gradually over time rather than a major profile overhaul all at once.
- Use the privacy settings to control who can view your connections, company, etc. Set to “Only You” to avoid notifications.
- Be selective with whom you connect with to maintain control over how far profile updates travel.
- Turn off notifications for new connections and changes to avoid incoming emails tipping people off.
- Use the “Signal” setting to indicate if you’re actively seeking opportunities or not.
While you can’t completely eliminate the chances of your network seeing profile changes, being selective, gradual and using privacy settings can help reduce unwanted exposure.
Conclusion
To wrap it up, not everyone will necessarily see minor updates to your LinkedIn profile, but major changes around jobs, connections, and photos are more likely to create notifications. The greatest visibility comes from your closest 1st degree connections and those you interact with regularly. With some wise privacy settings and gradual updating, you can modify your profile more discreetly. While LinkedIn allows your professional identity to be seen by millions, you still have some control over who sees what when it comes to your own profile.
