The Unofficial LinkedIn FAQ: 50 Answers by Andy Foote — from linkedinsights.com by Andy Foote

Excerpts:

If I had a dollar….my clients have asked a lot of the same questions over the years and I’ve been dying to write an unofficial FAQ type post to address these common questions in one swoop. Took me a while to put this 5,000 word guide together, if you find it useful, please share it.

(6) Should I only connect with people I know?
No. Though the LinkedIn User Agreement (8.2.g) states “You agree that you will not: Invite people you do not know to join your network” everyone knows this is both unenforceable and contrary to a major premise of LinkedIn. The big selling point of LinkedIn is the ability to grow yourself a network by connecting virtually with people you have not met and you don’t know, yet. Only connecting with people you know in real life is the equivalent of building an imaginary wall around your profile and ignoring all of the engagement and information sharing going on around you. Or you could just join MySpace.

(15) What are Followers?
Hangers on. Followers dig what you have written or like the cut of your jib on LinkedIn. Following someone on LinkedIn does not mean that they will get notified when the person being followed writes/shares (that would be too logical). Followers were born after LinkedIn publisher launched (Feb 2014) in an effort to encourage budding authors to think of their network as a built-in audience for their content. When you connect with someone you automatically follow them too. Everyone who follows you is potentially interested in connecting with you. Ask them!

(16) How much space do I have in my Headline/Summary?
120 characters (headline) 2000 characters (summary). For a while you could get 220 characters if you edited your headline on the mobile app. Don’t feel you have to use all 2,000 characters for your summary. Here’s a link to 3 ‘stunningly good’ summaries https://www.linkedinsights.com/3-stunningly-good-linkedin-profile-summaries And another link to maximum character counts https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/maximum-linkedin-character-counts-2017-andy-foote

(37) What’s the quickest way to get LinkedIn support?
Tweet them @LinkedInHelp