Oh, LinkedIn. You’re so optimistic.
A little over a year ago, the platform added a feature that notifies your connections when you’re “mentioned in the news.” I’m guessing LinkedIn forgot, however, that news isn’t always positive. I’ve certainly have seen “in the news” mentions that speak well of my connections, but I’ve also seen a couple that amplify negative stories. In one case, a connection was the spokesperson for bad news about his company; another time, the “in the news” mention was about the connection being fired from his job. I’m pretty sure neither of these people wanted more people to know these particular “news stories.”
Others have also mentioned another problem with the “mentioned in the news” feature: it can incorrectly identify you as someone you’re not. In any case, it’s worth considering whether this feature is more likely to help you or hurt you–and if the latter, you may want to turn it off (even if only temporarily, if you or your company is going through difficult times). The screencast below shows the steps, but here’s an overview:
- Log in to LinkedIn and click on the thumbnail of your profile image in the upper-right-hand corner:
2. Choose “Privacy & Settings”
3. Click on “Privacy”
4. Scroll down to “Notifying connections when you’re in the news” and move the slider to “no.”
That’s it–a quick fix to avoid drawing more attention to less than flattering publicity when the phrase “no news is good news” hits home.
