Controversial “Anonymous” privacy setting on LinkedIn.

Lets talk about a controversial setting in LinkedIn called, “Who’s Viewed My Profile?” This setting controls what is shown to LinkedIn users whose profile you have viewed.

According to Poon you may have perfectly good reasons for being Anonymous when you surf Profiles on LinkedIn and it’s none of my business why you would want to but you ought to be aware that Anonymity can be fleeting and you run the real risk of being exposed. Here’s the scenario – you decide to cloak yourself in Anonymity and change the appropriate Setting before you go and browse. You feel confident that no one you browse can identify you and you’d be correct.

Except that you then go back to your settings and switch back to showing your Name & Headline. If you then visit the same Profile you Browsed Anonymously, LinkedIn will switch your previous Anonymous footprint to your Name & Headline. The lesson? Browse Anonymously forever but if you decide to stop being Anonymous, don’t re-visit the Profiles you browsed when you were HIDDEN. LinkedIn currently allows paid users to see 90 days of browsing activity.

When you opt for the Anonymous profile characteristics (PARTIAL), you’re neither identifying yourself nor being Anonymous. Because your footprint can be clicked, you’re leading a not so merry chase. It’s an odd way to do business and does you no favors. "Go HIDDEN and don’t waste anybody’s time or go FULL and reap the potential rewards of being found on a network of 225m+ professionals." said Cassidy Poon, Digital & Social Media Advisor for LogicalTech. "Don’t be a deer in the headlights; make a decision – get off the road or go with the flow." Cassidy Poon added.

The crucial point here is that even if you decide to go totally-Anonymous or ‘cloaked’ as a Basic member, your identity in actuality is only partially hidden. “Someone on LinkedIn” is blue and can be clicked. When you click on this, you get to see 10 Profiles, one of these folks is the so-called Anonymous browser. So the Kimono has been lifted. Paid LinkedIn members not only get the benefit of seeing who has browsed them in the ‘Profile Stats’ section regardless of their meta-visibility choice, they are ALSO guaranteed complete anonymity – “LinkedIn Member” is greyed out and cannot be clicked.

So, are you ready to jump out of the shadows by changing your setting to “visible?” or do you have a different point of view?

Digital & Social Marketing Advisor
LogicalTech Group
Email: cassidyp@logicaltech.com.au

To find out more information about LogicalTech please visit: www.logicaltech.com.au
Connect with Technology Leaders with our Techblog: www.logicaltechgroup.com