Understanding Your LinkedIn Connections

Finding your connections on LinkedIn is vital to building your network. Having a large number of connections makes you more likely to pop up in search results and receive more engagements on your posts. If you are new to LinkedIn you might be a little confused by all this ‘connections’ jargon. The easiest way to think about connections is like followers or friends on any other social media platform. However, your connections on LinkedIn can really help your presence on the platform. 

When you want to connect with someone on LinkedIn, you send a connection request and depending on whether or not they accept the invitation determines what kind of connection they become to you.

The Three Types of LinkedIn Connections

1st Degree Connections

Your 1st-degree connections are people with who you are directly connected (so they would be your followers or friends). This means that they have either accepted your invitation or you have accepted theirs. When you see their posts or search their profile, you will be able to see the 1st-degree icon displayed next to their names. LinkedIn has a limit of 30,000 1st degree connections and most people only want to accept invitations from people they know or people related to their industry. Usually, people will accept connection invites from their 2nd-degree connections.

2nd Degree Connections

The second kind of connections are people who are connected with your first. So, these people would be kind of like your friends of friends. You may see them as suggestions from time to time. If you want to turn them into 1st-degree connections, you can send them an invitation by clicking on the connect button on their profile or you can also contact them through InMail (a way to contact people you are not connected with if you have a premium LinkedIn membership). Just like 1st degree, you will be able to view the 2nd-degree connection on their posts and profile.

3rd Degree Connections

If you are following along closely, you can probably guess what 3rd-degree connections are but if not they’re people connected with your 2nd-degree connections. These people will also have a 3rd degree connection icon next to their name. Connecting with these types of connections is a little tricker. If you are able to see their full first and last names then you can go ahead and send them an invitation by clicking the connect button. However, if only the first letter of their last name is visible then you are still able to contact them through InMail.

If you are in any groups on LinkedIn, the members of that group will be considered a part of your network. Unlike other 3rd degree connections, you will be able to send these people messages through LinkedIn and can check which groups you both belong to by looking at the highlights section on their profile.

Now, get connecting!