When should you eliminate connections on LinkedIn?

In my last video, I suggested that you should think twice before disconnecting from people on LinkedIn. I got a fair bit of feedback when I posted that video. One person, who is also in marketing, completely disagreed with me and said that they regularly review their LinkedIn connections and eliminate them if that connection is not active on LinkedIn or if they haven’t continued the conversation beyond the initial invitation.

This strategy isn’t for everyone, but she’s taken that approach based on her own strategy and purpose for using LinkedIn.

Skip video and keep reading

Deciding Whether to Disconnect

Before deciding whether to eliminate connections on LinkedIn, it is helpful to review your LinkedIn strategy and your purpose for using LinkedIn – what are you trying to accomplish?

Whether you decide to trim your LinkedIn connections list may also depend on how choosy you are about accepting invitations in the first place. If you tend to accept people you don’t know without a bit of investigating first, you may need to trim more later.

If you’re using LinkedIn to build awareness with your target audience, even if they aren’t posting or actively communicating with you – they could still be seeing your posts, and that awareness could lead to business in the future. Just because you don’t see someone being active on LinkedIn – they aren’t posting or communicating directly with you on the platform – doesn’t mean that they are not lurking and reading and taking in your content.

When to Disconnect

But when *does* it make sense to disconnect with someone on LinkedIn?

First, feel free to disconnect with people who you feel are acting unethically or whose practices – on LinkedIn or elsewhere – you are not comfortable with.

Another reason to disconnect is if you have reached LinkedIn’s limit for connections, and you would like to add others that you find more relevant or more useful for you. LinkedIn’s connection limit is 30,000 connections, so for most of you, that won’t be an issue.

If someone is truly irrelevant to you and your business, you might consider disconnecting from them because it may help LinkedIn better determine who to show your content to, which could improve your engagement.

If you’re not sure you want to disconnect, there is another option – and I’ll discuss that in my next video.

You can pick up a copy of Make LinkedIn Work for You on Amazon, or if you want personalized help with your LinkedIn strategy, please contact me.