My Findings, Reported: LinkedIn following feature draws attention in groups

A few weeks ago, I read an article on Mashable that broke down the revamps and additions to existing LinkedIn groups. I was very excited to read about the updates, but what caught my attention was something that actually wasn’t so new to these groups.

According to the article, “You may not know this, but the business social network actually gives you the option to ‘follow’ individuals if you want to see what they’re saying in different groups, but aren’t his or her connection.”

If you’ve read my previous post on LinkedIn, you already know that I am a huge fan of the site (yes, I really am). That being said, the idea of knowing I could be followed by a complete stranger – my every comment instantly shared with them at just the click of a button – made me a little uncomfortable. Could someone that I don’t even know really click on one follow button and instantly receive notifications for my every post within our shared groups? Without even giving me any sort of notification about their follow??

Some of you may be wondering, what is the follow button? Where can you find it? To give you a little breakdown: the follow feature was released in late 2009 and it allows users to quickly find the contributions made by fellow group members they “value.” When you post something on a LinkedIn group, a follow button is added right under your photo. If someone would like to keep track of your comments within your shared groups, they simply have to click that follow button. From there, they receive updates with your latest group comments and what’s more, they can sign up for e-mail notifications of the comments you post.

How can you check out who you’re following and who’s following you? It’s really easy. Hover over the groups tab at the top navigation on LinkedIn. Click following on the drop down list. This will take you to a page with all of your followers and who you’re following (as seen below). If you’ve never followed anyone and wonder why you have names listed under the “people I’m following” category, keep in mind that LinkedIn automatically adds all of your connections to that list, and vice versa for your connections (but being a connection is not necessary to follow someone).

After learning all of this information, I wanted to see what my fellow LinkedIn users thought. So what did I do? I did what any avid and dedicated LinkedIn user would do and I took it right to the groups and asked my fellow users the following question: how do you feel about being followed by someone not connected to you on LinkedIn? I’ve compiled some of the answers I got and am reporting them back to you here (I even got a LinkedIn employee in on the discussion!).

Overall, I received a wide range of responses. Some of my fellow group members felt against the whole idea and some were all for being followed. Both sides presented great points. I’ll let you decide where you stand for yourself, but here are some of the pros and cons to being followed on LinkedIn:

For following	Against following
Makes it easier to build a following and for those who value your conversation to follow what you’ve posted across your groups.	May enable some of your own followers within your industry to get involved in every discussion you participate in and counter everything you say.
Makes it easy for you to follow people of interest across your groups and build relationships with them.	There is no option that gives users the *choice* to be followed on LinkedIn. Other networks, such as Twitter and Facebook both have options for controls. LinkedIn allows users to set the controls on public profiles, but what about on groups? Shouldn’t there be a choice?
Can be helpful when you need to call on your followers for help in discussions. These followers may share your views and can help you support your arguments.	Could help a competitor – if you’re seen as an industry leader and someone in a competing company starts following you, you’ve handed over easy access to see what information you’ve collected and dispersed within your groups.
Can create more opportunity for you to differentiate yourself, whether in search for a job or building an online reputation.
Similar to the concept of: It’s not who you know, but who knows YOU. Let them follow you and it will help you grow your exposure and hence your opportunities like increased sales, obtaining referrals, etc.
When you consider that there are always many other ways for someone to search and find out what ever they are looking for on you, “following” your activities, opinions and writings on LinkedIn groups doesn’t seem too bad.
Your participation in a public forum like LinkedIn groups puts you at risk once you click the mouse to start the discussion or add the comment.

Based off of the findings listed above, I’ve come up with my own conclusion on the LinkedIn follow feature (for now). I think following can certainly present some good opportunities (and obviously, an overwhelming number of responses from other users all show they share the same sentiment) but I also think it’s important to use discretion in your online activity. While I still think there should be an option to opt out of being followed by anyone, as long as you’re aware that this feature exists, you can better protect yourself in the future. So, why not take a moment to stop by your LinkedIn page and check out your followers?

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