LinkedIn allows members to have some ideas about who is viewing a profile, and this makes a nice research topic.
It came up in 2009, made my list of Favorite Linked Things and is worth repeating…
Getting there
You’ll find it in the right hand column a little bit down.
“Who’s Viewed My Profile”
If you click on the item under there you’ll get to a page with a bit more information on the viewers of your profile
My earlier article
You’ll also want to read what I wrote about this topic last year:
Someone’s Been Sitting In My Chair…
Able to determine somewhat
Given the default setting is to show information about the viewer, and not their actual name, it is reasonably safe, right?
Well, what happens if you have a meeting with Bob from Acme Box, and you notice that your profile was recently viewed by someone from Acme Box? It’s probably a reasonable assumption to think Bob just looked at your profile…
More is not more!
And as I mention in the earlier article – finding out about “more” viewers does not mean finding out “more” about the viewers;-)
Each user controls what information is available in their own settings, and that’s what counts.
Viewing the video
And here’s the video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CajbCpS06_g]
Comments on the youtube copy of “Favorite Linked Things” appreciated.
To your continued success,
steve
—
Steven Tylock
http://www.linkedinpersonaltrainer.com
Every time I look at my linkedin profile I look to see who has viewed my profile.
I do not care if it does not show me more than 5, because it seems to shuffle them on occasion, and they drop off after a number of days. The point is that I eventually see them all.
As a consultant I find it very interesting to see who has looked at my profile. Depending on how people have their settings I can often track them down. “Someone in the Leadership function at Company Z”. Well, I have good odds of narrowing that down to one person, or at least a few. Then I go back and look at THEIR profiles.
Now looking at other people’s profiles does not necessarily gain me anything (see below), but it is interesting to do. And because my settings are open people can see that I looked at their profile, if they check that section.
The real value for me is being able to track down the person. Why? if someone was looking at my profile they are are possibly: 1) a manager looking for staffing or recruiting help 2) a candidate that is or will be looking for a new job of 3) someone who saw something I posted and is curious about me. Number 1 has the most value, as I can contact that person to see if they need any assistance. The others at least improve my reputation/branding, which I hope will be beneficial in the long run. The more people know about me the better!
Peace and Health,
Eric
Thanks Eric. Some users commented about the same sort of tactic at one of my events and I realized the not-quite anonymous nature of details about a member could really narrow it down quite considerably…
steve