Social Media Shenanigans:LinkedIn Basics

One of the platforms I’m least active on is LinkedIn. My profile is outdated and I probably have some unattended connection requests waiting for my attention. Having decided to rectify this situation, I needed to make sure I knew the basics of what was acceptable for this particular platform.

Unlike other platforms, LinkedIn has slightly different rules of etiquette. Here are some of the things I will be considering over the next couple of days as I attempt to connect meaningfully with my contacts.

I have been guilty of just sending connection requests with no context. It is a good idea to add a personal message to remind people of how they know you or why it’s a good idea to connect. If people start to respond to your invite with “I don’t know this person’, LinkedIn might just restrict your account, requiring you to know the email address of each person you send future invites to. Work on a standard invite greeting and tailor it to send out to different people. Stranger danger applies to LinkedIn, like it does with other social media platforms. Let people have as much information about you as possible to increase your chances of expanding your network.

In pre-pandemic days, it was common practice to meet people at conferences and immediately connect on LinkedIn. With face-to-face gatherings being under strict scrutiny, don’t feel weird to send that connect request to someone you have met in an online call. Don’t wait too long to connect as the longer you wait, the less likely they are to remember you.

Send a brief welcome message when someone joins your network. The personal touch is not frowned upon like it is with other platforms. You must be relevant and show interest for people to want to build a connection and professional relationship with you.

A professional profile picture lends credibility to you as a person and increases your chances that people will connect with you. Please- no pictures with Scruffy the poodle or Winkles your cat.

Don’t remind people if they haven’t responded to your invite. Some people are busy. This is after all a professional networking platform. If you are pushy, your invitation is likely to be ignored. LinkedIn will remind your potential contact of outstanding invitations.

If you would like people to recommend you, personalize the request. Don’t use the generic, default messages. Remind people of instances where you displayed a particular skill so that they find it easier to endorse you.

People are expecting you to keep things professional. This is a business social network so no-one wants to know what you ate for supper last night.

As important as privacy settings are, because this is a business platform you want to make sure people can actually connect with you. Your activity feed should be open. Rather remove people as a connection if you don’t want them to see your information instead of applying settings that make it impossible for people to make contact with you.

Even if you are not job-hunting, keep your connections with recruiters. Don’t ignore them when they do connect. You don’t know when your employment landscape could change and you do need them to get the job-hunting process going again. If they do connect when you’re not looking, send a polite message to say you will reach out if you decide to move from where you are.

My final thoughts on this would be:

· Do keep your profile, skills and achievements current (unlike me!)

· Do use your common sense-your business reputation and credibility in your industry is at stake

· Do keep it polite and respectful