Tip of the Week: Improve LinkedIn Privacy

Have you ever received an email notification that someone has checked out your LinkedIn profile? While you might be flattered in the moment, you might then suddenly notice that LinkedIn is doing the same thing to you, telling others when you have looked at their profile. While this isn’t always a bad thing, and can even be good for networking, you might want to adjust this setting so that your privacy can be maintained a bit better.

Adjusting Your Privacy Settings on LinkedIn

The first step is to navigate to the LinkedIn website, which you can find here. After this, you should click on your profile icon in the topmost bar (near the right corner of your screen). You then want to click on Settings & Privacy.

You should see several options in the left column, but the one you want to click on is Visibility. Afterwards, select Profile Viewing Options.

When you select Private Mode from the list, you will see a couple of different options, both of which have some merit, depending on how private you want to get with your account. The first option is Someone At [Insert Workplace Here], while the other hides your identity entirely. It’s up to you how thorough you want to be with this setting.

It’s worth mentioning that people will see that someone viewed their profile no matter what you do; you just have more power over how you look to someone when you view their profile. If you want your company’s name to appear still, then go with the former option. If you would rather have complete anonymity, then go with the latter.

There is one caveat to this setting adjustment, and it’s a big one: when you appear private to others, they will appear private to you, meaning you won’t know who is viewing your profile, although you might get a couple of hints based on where they work. Still, it’s a setting that you might consider adjusting, so now you know how to do it!

Privacy on social media is kind of an odd thing; you don’t want to overshare, but you also don’t want to be a complete stranger. It’s up to you to determine how and why you use social media. We just urge you to always use caution when interacting with anyone you don’t know, as you never know who could be on the other end of the account.

What are some tips and tricks you would like to see us cover in the future?