30 LinkedIn Tips: #4/30 – Don’t get distracted

• Originally written: October 4, 2017
  Text & Images Updated: March 2, 2022

Don't let other people get in your way.

When people visit your LinkedIn Profile, you want them to be focusing on you.

You don't want them to be distracted by pictures and links to the profiles of other people alongside you.

However, this is exactly what LinkedIn does on your profile as a default.

See the column on the right illustrated below.

'People also viewed' provides lots of juicy opportunities to click away and stop looking at your profile, and there are a further five further down under 'People you may know'.

This is a distraction from looking at your profile, which is why they were here in the first place.

Switch off 'People Also Viewed' as these are people mainly drawn from your network and in similar roles to you. This can effectively be your competiton for jobs or customers.

Luckily, you have the option to switch off this algorithm-driven distraction with one simple change to your settings.

Step 1 to get rid of distractions:

On a desktop computer, click on the menu bar under your photograph with 'Me' below it to manage your Settings and Privacy.

Use the dropdown menu under your little photo at the top right on LinkedIn.

A URL shortcut when you are logged in to LinkedIn to get here is - https://www.linkedin.com/psettings/privacy/

Step 2 to get rid of distractions:

Click on the Account Preferences tab,  then select 'Site Preferences' and scroll down to click on 'Viewers of this profile also viewed'. Now just slide the toggle switch to 'No'. The setting will then be saved for you. SHortcut to this setting is https://www.linkedin.com/psettings/browse-map

Switching off 'Viewers of the profile also viewed', also known as 'People also viewed'.

So from now on, there will no more of these distractions alongside your profile.

You're done.

BUT: Please note that 'People You May Know' still appears

Switching off 'People Also Viewed' won't switch off the appearance of 'People you may know' but this is a far less dangerous list, as it is working from an algorithm based on the data of the viewer of your profile.

Instead of seeing 10 tempting people (5 similar to you), your profile visitor will see just 5 tempting people who are linked to new additions to their network, or who have lots of connections in common. The fewer distractions the better, and the further removed they are from your network, the better.

'People you may know' is far less dangerous than 'People also viewed'. And there are 5 less distractions.

NOTE: For profiles that have had 'People Also Viewed' switched off for some time, the new 'People You May Know' column of profiles may not appear.

So now the algorithm that showed photos linking to random people who do similar work to you (which is often your competition), or those who are among your connections, can be replaced with the algorithm which shows photos linking to random people who may just be of interest to the person viewing your profile.

It's still a distraction of five links, and you can't remove it, but it's 50% better than having 10 distractions. It changes the attention ratio in your favour.

Unless you make this change to switch off 'People Also Viewed'  you have the distraction of ten other profiles appearing next to your profile. Double your chances of success and switch this off today.

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