Comments on: Do You Hide Your LinkedIn Connections?

By: Debra

Debra — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:59:13 +0000

Nils – your situation is a perfect example of why you may want to hide your contacts and be there for introductions for those who search and find that you are the connection to someone they wish to meet. I can fully understand the rationale for keeping your valuable assets (your contacts) private. I definitely wouldn’t snub the competitor as you may never know how you may help each other in the future.

All the best.

By: Nils

Nils — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:58:32 +0000

I have just received a connection request from a competitor who is also a fellow board member of an industry trade group. He is one person I would not want to give access to my connections to. So I’ll need to decide whether to snub him, or hide connections for everyone else.

By: Debra

Debra — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:45:22 +0000

Thanks Curtis – I agree with you that hiding your connections does remove a piece of your overall brand. So although I’ll keep my connections visible, I’m less critical about those that do not now that I realize that I still have access to the connections, I just can’t “thumb” through them as if I have your business card file on my lap.

By: Curtis Chambers

Curtis Chambers — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:19:26 +0000

A thoughtful post. Why be on Linkedin if all one is going to do is hide? Also, one’s connections are in a sense part of one’s profile, in that they tell a lot about the person. Information wants to be free.
Curtis Chambers´s last blog .."Top Hat" – When America was Tops – Film Review

By: Debra

Debra — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:24:18 +0000

Krishna – Before I wrote this post, I had a more one-sided opinion on this topic. But once you realize that you can still “see” the connections through search and know who can introduce you, I take a much more neutral position – i.e. to each his or her own. It is a shame, however, that some folks find it ok to “mine” your contacts for whatever reason. Thanks for sharing your perspective and experience.

By: Krishna De

Krishna De — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:00:05 +0000

I certainly enjoy connecting other people to one another and actively do so. However I have closed down my access to seeing all my connections on LinkedIn primarily as it’s my most valuable network and I found some people were ‘mining it’.

My LinkedIn network has been established in the real world over 20 years and it is something I value and nurture.

I actively introduce people to one another in the real world and the virtual world including through LinkedIn.

I believe we have to create our own guidelines for networking online and those guidelines might well be different across different social networks.
Krishna De´s last blog ..Arthurs Day, A Global Celebration Of The Entrpreneurial Vision of Arthur Guinness