I Want My Profile To Be Public, But I Have Lost Control – So Have You

LinkedIn X-Ray is gone (or soon to be gone, depending on your location).

So, what did LinkedIn do?

The screenshot above shows my LinkedIn public profile settings.

For the majority of members I know, the settings are the same. We want to be found on Google and Bing, which the UX promises.

However, this is my experience and education on the public profile. Profiles all went to “extreme privacy” starting about a month ago. Most data went to the deep web, which search engines cannot access.

1. Members were never informed of the changes – or asked whether we wanted them.

2. LinkedIn Help still says we are in control. Not true.

Here is a quote in response to my inquiry from a LinkedIn Engineering Director:

“Our trust team is rolling out (As they always have, none of this is new, it is an ongoing thing) changes to what is visible in public profile.  The idea behind public profile is to identify a person, to decide if that person is someone you wish to connect with, or reach out to.  If you want to connect, then of course that person can choose to accept or decline.  Same with messages and outreach.  But all of this is being done for member trust and member data.  Members expect us to help them control exactly where their data shows up, is used, and how it appears.”

This – Members expect us to help them control exactly where their data shows up, is used, and how it appears. – is exactly what has stopped happening. And it is new, and unfortunate.

How does it support our trust in LinkedIn? is a question for LinkedIn’s Trust Team.

Join us at the brand-new class

LinkedIn Sourcing in the Post-X-Ray Era

on February 28-29 and figure out how to source in the new circumstances.