5 things about LinkedIn that you may not have known about
I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn. I like it because it’s all professional and to-the-point, for the most part. I make connections with people at different companies and I basically have access to everyone’s professional life history. For this reason, LinkedIn is super valuable to any worker bee trying to further their career.
I feel like LinkedIn doesn’t get the attention it deserves. I’m guessing because it’s a little intimidating upon first glance. The UI design isn’t that straight forward so users may feel restricted to only spending enough time on there to approve their friend requests and edit their profiles. What many people do not know is that LinkedIn is a wonderful lurking tool and can teach you a lot about other people in your industry. I’m going to list off some stuff that you may not have known about (or noticed):
On the bottom right side of your home page you will see a column of widget-looking boxes. Pay attention to these because they can tell you a lot! 
1. You can see who is looking at your profile > which means people can see if you’re looking at theirs (unless you change your settings, which I will get into in a bit). So be careful about stalking your ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend, because there’s a chance she’ll know you’re spying on her.
2. You can be recognized as a know-it-all in your field > LinkedIn is a popular area to spark discussion, which means its a great place for you to exhibit your expertise. Search for discussions happening in your specialty and participate! By doing so (and providing useful information), there’s a possibility that someone might vote your answer as “The Best Answer”, which will give you a nifty little badge and will make you seem like an actual expert on that topic (which could essentially help you gain some valuable connections or leads).
Your Mailbox can be filled with shame. Especially your sent box. You know how sometimes you get friend requests from people whom you have never met in your life? Well when you deny them as a connection, it tells them.
3. Every connection invitation you send gets filed in your sent messages box. If someone denies your request to connect, your sent box will tell you why. If you’re reading this and freaking out about some questionable connections you’ve requested, fret not, as you are also able to cancel requests on ones that you’ve sent (only if they have not already been accepted or denied by the end user).
4. You can keep your stalking private. If you have a tendency to research people on LinkedIn and do not necessarily want people to know you’ve been looking at their profile, you can edit your account settings to make it look like you were never there. Go to Account & Settings > Profile Views > and select ““.
5. LinkedIn has apps! They’re all business-related, but it’s pretty cool that you can import your WordPress blogroll directly into your profile and upload fancy presos or portfolios. It’s like a one stop shop for everything an employer would want to see.
