Ask Dave Taylor
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Videos
  • Most Popular
  • Top Categories
  • Books
  • About Dave
  • Ask Me
  • > Donate <
  • Home
  • LinkedIn Help
  • How Do I Use LinkedIn “Find Nearby” at a Conference?

How Do I Use LinkedIn “Find Nearby” at a Conference?

April 13, 2019 / Dave Taylor / LinkedIn Help / No Comments

I was at a lecture a few nights ago and the speaker encouraged all of us present to utilize “LinkedIn Find Nearby” to connect. I have no idea what that means or how to do it. Help!

LinkedIn does indeed have a really cool “Find Nearby” feature that you can utilize to identify and connect with like minded peers at an event, but these sort of features are an exercise in trade-offs too. In a word, electronically identifying people near you is simultaneously a great concept in some ways and a privacy nightmare in others. There have been a number of dating apps, for example, that tried to make it easy to hook up with someone in the same bar or nightclub based on some basic characteristics, but they’ve generally not worked out too well.

Then there’s the issue of apps that continue to run in the background – or always run in the background – and would therefore be basically transmitting your information all the time, even when you don’t want others to identify you or try to connect with you in the digital world. That can go from awkward to downright dangerous in our modern world.

Fortunately the LinkedIn team has clearly been sensitive to the risks and rewards offered by a “Find Nearby” feature and you’re only visible to other people in your immediate vicinity while you have that specific page open in the LinkedIn app. Let’s have a look…

linkedin mobile iphone main page

As I write this, I’m attending SearchCon, a terrific search optimization and digital marketing conference in Breckenridge, Colorado. We’re utilizing Find Nearby to connect on LinkedIn for future opportunity sharing and perhaps a new friendship or two. The above is what I see when I launch the LinkedIn app on my iPhone. Yes, you need to be on your smartphone and you need to use the LinkedIn app for this, you can’t just access LinkedIn via your mobile browser.

The key to access this feature is to tap on the “People” button on the bottom toolbar. It’s the second from the left. The other buttons? Left to right it’s home, people (or connections), add new post, notifications (I have two pending) and toolbox. Tap on People, however, and you’ll see something like this:

linkedin mobile - people connections page

Yes, I really have over 4000 connections on LinkedIn, and you can see four that LinkedIn is suggesting I connect up with on the page too, in its “recommended for you” section. Right now I’m not interested in them, however! What I do want to tap on is “Find Nearby”, the center option in the top navbar, but notice it shows that it’s currently off.  That’s good news: I don’t want to participate in this unknowingly.

A tap and the LinkedIn app offers up an atypically useful and informative explanation of what I’m poised to enable:

linkedin: discovery isn't enabled

Seems reasonable. I’m going to proceed with “Enable“. A tap and now the phone itself confirms I’m granting this particular app permission:

linkedin iphone ios permission nearby phones bluetooth

This is a bit more concerning because you have to trust the LinkedIn app to do the right thing. You can change it (somewhat) in iOS settings on an iPhone or in your Android phone system settings, but I wouldn’t grant this info to an app I didn’t trust. You might be more open with your data, however, so just be aware of the privacy tradeoffs before you proceed.

Ready? Tap on “OK” to fire up Find Nearby…

linkedin find nearby - empty no-one

Well, that’s disappointing, isn’t it? Turns out that it takes a little time to start finding others in your immediate area, and that’s assuming that they’re on the same page in their own LinkedIn apps too, of course.

At SearchCon, we’re all ready to connect so it doesn’t take long for people to populate this screen on my phone:

linkedin find nearby potential connections professional colleague

Look at the icons on the right of each person. I’m already connected to Kelly and Tricia so it’s a shortcut to message them, while Mike, Sean and Jeff are not yet connections, so the icon is a “request connection” one instead. So helpful – a single tap and if they agree to connect, they accept the request and we’re connected forevermore. A very neat feature when you’re at professional events, and when you leave this screen, it’s off and you’re back to your usual level of LinkedIn privacy.

Pro Tip: I write a lot about LinkedIn, so please do check out my many LinkedIn help pages while you’re here on the site. Thanks!

Let’s Stay In Touch!

Never miss a single article, review or tutorial here on AskDaveTaylor, sign up for my fun weekly newsletter!
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz
Please choose a color:
Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!
find nearby, friends near me, friends nearby, geolocation, linkedin find nearby, linkedin near me, near me, privacy

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Recent Posts

  • How Can I Prevent Remote Access to my Windows PC?
  • The Easy Way to Add Contacts to my New Android Phone?
  • How Can I Hide or Report An Offensive Advert on Facebook?
  • Switch “Paste” & “Paste and Match Style” Keyboard Shortcuts on MacOS?
  • How Can I Easily Create a QR Code For My Web Page?

On Our YouTube Channel

AUKEY Omnia 100W + Minima 20W Power Chargers -- DEMO & REVIEW

Roborock S6 MaxV Robot Vacuum Cleaner -- DEMO & REVIEW

Categories

  • AdSense, AdWords, and PPC Help (106)
  • Amazon Echo & Kindle Help (79)
  • Amazon, eBay, and Online Shopping Help, (157)
  • Android Help (160)
  • Apple Watch Help (49)
  • Articles, Tutorials, and Reviews (327)
  • Business Advice (192)
  • Computer & Internet Basics (720)
  • d) None of the Above (160)
  • Facebook Help (365)
  • Google, Chrome & Gmail Help (157)
  • HTML & Web Page Design (244)
  • Instagram Help (44)
  • iPad Help (137)
  • iPhone & iOS Help (571)
  • iPod & MP3 Player Help (173)
  • LinkedIn Help (79)
  • Linux Help (149)
  • Linux Shell Script Programming (86)
  • Mac & MacOS Help (833)
  • Most Popular (10)
  • Outlook & Office 365 Help (10)
  • PayPal Help (68)
  • Pinterest Help (53)
  • Reddit Help (12)
  • SEO & Marketing (80)
  • Spam, Scams & Security (84)
  • Trade Show News & Updates (23)
  • Twitter Help (212)
  • Video Game Tips (66)
  • Web Site Traffic Tips (62)
  • Windows 10 Help (831)
  • Wordpress Help (201)
  • Writing and Publishing (72)
  • YouTube Help (43)
  • YouTube Video Reviews (159)
  • Zoom, Skype & Video Chat Help (42)

Archives

Social Connections:

Ask Dave Taylor


Follow Me on Pinterest
Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on LinkedIn
Follow me on Instagram


AskDaveTaylor on Facebook



microsoft insider mvp


This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this site or on any linked site. Further, please note that by submitting a question or comment you're agreeing to our terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site. Our lawyer says "Thanks for your cooperation."
© 2020 by Dave Taylor. "Ask Dave Taylor®" is a registered trademark of Intuitive Systems, LLC.
Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions - Accessibility Policy