I know, this one may seem counterintuitive. Why would you want to withdraw your connection requisitions when looking to grow your network on LinkedIn? Well, it may be the thing that’s holding you, and your profile, back. Not keeping on top of your connection requests can actually do you more harm than good – especially if they’ve been pending for over 3 days. So, here are three reasons why you should be withdrawing your connection requests on LinkedIn.
Stay Out of LinkedIn Jail
Now, if you’ve read that and immediately thought: ‘What in the world is LinkedIn jail?!’, don’t worry. Let me break it down for you.
LinkedIn jail is the platform’s way to try and keep their network organic. In a world that’s full of fake news and pushy advertising, many people are sensitive toward social posts. So, LinkedIn, in an attempt to prevent the use of bots on their site, introduced the dreaded Jail. Once you’re in there, you have a restriction placed on your account. This is often due to an increase in activity – which, you guessed it, is often from a mass of connection requests. So, if you want to maximise your chances of connecting with like-minded people on the platform, keep an eye on those connection requests and withdraw them if they’ve been pending for over 3 days.
Reduces Visibility
I know what it’s like. When you first start getting into utilising LinkedIn, be that personally or professionally, you want to do everything you can to maximise your profile and grow your network.
From searching for old-school friends and connecting with colleagues, you want to boost your profile in any way you can. But, if you send out a lot of connection requests, especially if they’re rejected, LinkedIn starts to penalise you for it. LinkedIn reduces the visibility of the rest of the network. So, if you’re sending out mass connection requests and not withdrawing them if they’ve been left pending for over 3 days, you may be unable to see as many people as you should.
Don’t Limit Yourself
Are you aiming to be a part of the 5,000 connections club? It has a tonne of upsides and can boost your profile beyond your wildest dreams. But, you’ve got to get there first – and that’s the tricky bit.
As with every social networking platform, it’s important to be aware of the limitations that come with LinkedIn. And if you’re well on your way to the 5,000 connections club, you could be at risk of having your account limited if you have too many pending connection requests. The exact number is unknown, so it’s important to regularly check your invites and withdraw those from your LinkedIn account that have been pending for over 3 days. That way, you’ll avoid having a restriction placed on your account that stops you from adding new connections.
When you’re looking to withdraw connection requests on LinkedIn, all you have to do is click ‘My Network’ at the top of the page and then click ‘See All’ in the invitation section. Then, you can click ‘Sent’ and then ‘Withdraw’ next to the person you want to withdraw the request from.