LinkedIn brought back a feature that I’ve really been missing, but they haven’t made it easy to find it this time around.
The feature is the activity feed, which you can look through when you’re viewing someone’s profile.
So, what is it, how do you find it, why was I missing it, and how can it help you?
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What is a person’s recent activity feed?
This is a chronological display of some of the activities of your first and second-degree network for a recent period of time. The information that shows up here is based on a person’s individual settings and LinkedIn’s current rules.
Here is the latest from LinkedIn on what is in your feed and for how long:
While the majority of your updates appear on your Recent Activity page for 14 days, this duration may vary depending on the type of activity. Below are select examples of activities and how long they will typically remain on your Recent Activity page.
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- Updates that you share – 30 days
- Comments and “likes” on other members’ updates – 14 days
- Following and joining updates – 5 days
- Recommendations and general profile updates – 14 days
- Work anniversaries and recent position changes – 30 days
- Profile photo changes – 60 days
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How do I find a person’s activity feed?
Go to his profile and click the down arrow next to the gray Endorse button (for first-degree connections) or gray Send <first name of person> InMail button (for second-degree connections), and then select View recent activity.
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Why was I missing it?
Easy. Most of the time when I am looking at a person’s profile, I am trying to learn something about the person so I can intelligently decide what I might want to do next to possibly move my relationship with her forward…or not. Now, in addition to the somewhat static information in the person’s profile, you can see what is on her mind currently, thus the name “Recent Activity.”
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How can it help you?
A few things come to mind both from the standpoint of you checking others out and also how you’re being perceived by others based on what’s in (or not in) your activity feed.
1. When reviewing other people’s profiles, be sure to view the person’s activity feed to see what he decided is important enough to share with his network. Remember, you can hide your identity when you are checking out someone’s profile.
2. If you are trying to get in front of that person, consider a share, “like” or comment on something she posted. She now knows you were not only looking at her profile but that you are helping her get more exposure by sharing her stuff with your connections.
3. Look at your settings and make sure the information showing up in your feed is the information you want to show this audience.
4. Start getting in the habit of posting status updates on a consistent basis, because now the posting has a longer shelf life and can also be viewed by your second-degree connections.
Sharing and commenting on information that is relevant and current could put you in a more positive light with people who view your profile, and that is always a good thing.
If you’d like ideas about what kind of information to post, check out these two articles: “Your Definitive Guide to LinkedIn Status Updates” and “LinkedIn Status Updates: The Rule Everyone Should Follow.”