October 2010
LinkedIn has now restricted your ability to see the surnames of people who are connected to you at the 3rd degree.
Here's what that means.
I'm connected to Bill. He's a Plant Manager and he's my first degree contact. That means he's one person away from me.
Bill is connected to Suzy. She's a Plant Manager, too. She's not connected to me directly but she is connected directly to Bill - and because she is Bill's first degree contact she is automatically my second degree contact. That means she's two people away from me.
Me --> Bill (1 person away from me = 1st degree contact) ---> Suzy (2 people from me = 2nd degree contact.
If I do a search for a Plant Manager, Bill and Suzy will come up and I can see their full profiles.
But let's say that Suzy is connected to Blanche who is also a Plant Manager. She not connected to me directly and she is not connected to Bill directly. She is, therefore, my 3rd degree contact. That means that she is three people away from me.
Me --> Bill (1st) --> Suzy (2nd) --> Blanche (3rd)
If I search for a Plant Manager, Blanche will come up in my search but Linkedin will not show me her full last name, only the first initial. If her name is Blanche Jones she will only turn up as Blanch J.
Glen Cathey has written an illustrated article telling us how to get around this problem.
HERE IS HIS ADVICE:
1. Check the Activity Sections
Open the profile. If the person has any network updates, you can see the full name in the activity sections. One is a little below the person's name at the top of the page. The other is half way down the column on the right side of the page (the right sidebar).
If the name is Blanche J., you might see something like "Blanche Jones leading a trial run of a new automation system today".
2. Check the Recommendations / Endorsements
If the person has any recommendation you will see her full name there.
3. Check the Also Viewed Box
In the lower part of the right hand column of any Linkedin profile, you will see a
section called “Viewers of this profile also viewed”. You will see a list of names.
When you click on one of these people you might see your target person in their Also Viewed section. But not always. You might have to click on more than one of the links before your target person appears.
