LinkedIn: Opt Out Or Get Ready For Social Ads
I would venture to say most of you maintain a LinkedIn page, and most of you would agree that the site is a useful tool for business owners, employees, and job seekers alike. But did you know that LinkedIn was liberally sharing your profile information to promote products and services for a short while last week? An uproar over privacy concerns forced LinkedIn to make an immediate policy change, but the issue once again reminds users of social media that they are responsible for locking down their profiles as they deem fit.
The issue at stake in last week's user protest was a new feature called "social ads". Social ads are essentially a new form of advertising that turns LinkedIn users into advocates of the products and services offered by the companies they follow. The site went as far as to use individual's name and photos to promote the products and services, so some users protested that LinkedIn had automatically given third parties the right to use their names and photos in ads unless they specifically opted out. As a result of last week's abrupt policy change, LinkedIn now indicates that "people" in your network (not particular individuals) recommend a company, product or service.
If you prefer to maintain a higher level of control over how your information in used by LinkedIn, the good news is that they have made the process of changing your settings pretty straight forward.
To opt out of social ads:
The issue at stake in last week's user protest was a new feature called "social ads". Social ads are essentially a new form of advertising that turns LinkedIn users into advocates of the products and services offered by the companies they follow. The site went as far as to use individual's name and photos to promote the products and services, so some users protested that LinkedIn had automatically given third parties the right to use their names and photos in ads unless they specifically opted out. As a result of last week's abrupt policy change, LinkedIn now indicates that "people" in your network (not particular individuals) recommend a company, product or service.
If you prefer to maintain a higher level of control over how your information in used by LinkedIn, the good news is that they have made the process of changing your settings pretty straight forward.
To opt out of social ads:
- Click on your name in the the upper-right-hand corner of the screen. Select "Settings" from the drop-down menu.
- Click on "Account" then "Manage Social Advertising."
- Uncheck the box next to "LinkedIn may user my name, photo in social advertising" and then click on "Save."
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