Degrees of Separation

To understand the importance of building your LinkedIn network, you must understand how LinkedIn connections are classified. As a LinkedIn member you can connect with other people, which allows you to view their complete profiles, their activity feeds, and send them private messages (depending on their account privacy settings). These people are called your first-degree connections.

Your LinkedIn network is made up of your first-degree connections as well as second- and third-degree connections. These are the people you’re connected with through your first-degree connections. People who belong to the same LinkedIn groups that you belong to are also considered part of your LinkedIn network.

To better understand the concept of LinkedIn degrees of separation, think of the pop-culture game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” According to this game, every famous person can be connected to Kevin Bacon in six degrees or less. Here’s an example to connect Kevin Bacon to Mick Jagger:

1. Mick Jagger was in Freejack with Emilio Estevez.

2. Emilio Estevez was in The Outsiders with Tom Cruise.

3. Tom Cruise was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon.

It’s that simple. If Kevin Bacon and Mick Jagger were on LinkedIn and both were connected to Emilio Estevez but not personally connected as a first-degree connection with each other, they would be second-degree connections through their mutual connection with Emilio Estevez. There are many ways that Kevin Bacon can be connected to Mick Jagger, and each second- or third-degree connection offers opportunities for them to get on each other’s radar screens, learn about each other, and ultimately connect with each other.

As you actively participate on LinkedIn, watch for recommendations about people you might know—or want to connect with—from your extended network. LinkedIn automatically offers these types of links and suggestions, and you’ll see them as you use LinkedIn. They might appear as a sidebar box, in public profiles, and so on. Figure 5.1 shows a list of connection recommendations on the LinkedIn home page when you’re logged in to your account.

Figure 5.1: LinkedIn suggests people for you to connect with based on your LinkedIn profile and activities. Watch for People You May Know and similar connection recommendations.

Send connection requests and introduction requests whenever you find someone who can add value to your LinkedIn experience and help you meet your goal—just as you would do at in-person networking events. You can do this with your first-, second-, and third-degree connections on LinkedIn. Leveraging the ability to see who is in your extended network on LinkedIn allows you to connect with not just your first-degree connections but potentially thousands (or millions) of second- and third-degree connections, too!