Your quick reference to LinkedIn terminology

Understanding key terminology per your industry is important, the same is true regarding LinkedIn. The more familiar one is with the meaning of common LinkedIn terms, they have a greater level of confidence and can navigate the platform with more ease.

This is not an exhaustive listing of LinkedIn terms, but the most common one.

Keep in mind that LinkedIn is an ever-evolving platform. Features are being added and taken away on an ongoing basis. This information is accurate at the time of the publishing of this article.

Before getting into the LinkedIn terminology, let's look at the definition of LinkedIn per the Cambridge Dictionary:

LinkedIn: the name of a social networking website for business people to communicate, find new job opportunities, share information, etc.        

KEY LINKEDIN TERMS

Homepage: You reach your landing page when you first sign in to your LinkedIn account. A navigation bar at the top allows you to see main areas and features available. You can manage your account settings by clicking the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage and selecting Settings & Privacy from the dropdown.

LinkedIn Feed: Your LinkedIn feed contains insights from your network, companies you follow, sponsored content, and other posts that LinkedIn believes you may be interested in.

Profile: Your LinkedIn profile is a professional landing page for you to manage your own, personal brand. It’s a great way for you to tell people who you are and what you do by displaying a general history of your professional experiences and achievements. Use your LinkedIn profile to add a personal touch that a typical resume or CV may not reflect.

Profile Introduction: The top section of your profile that displays details of your current personal and professional status.

1st-degree connections: People you're directly connected to because you've accepted their invitation to connect, or they've accepted your invitation. You'll see a 1st-degree icon next to their name in search results and on their profile. You can contact them by sending a message on LinkedIn.

2nd-degree connections: People who are connected to your 1st-degree connections. You'll see a 2nd-degree icon next to their name in search results and on their profile. You can send them an invitation by clicking the Connect button on their profile page.

3rd-degree connections - People who are connected to your 2nd-degree connections. You'll see a 3rd-degree icon next to their name in search results and on their profile.

Followers - People who choose to follow your public updates in their LinkedIn feed, subject to your settings.

Direct Message (DM): Message directly to a first-level connection or a group of first-level connections.

InMail: A premium feature, it allows you to directly message another LinkedIn member that you're not connected to. If you have a Basic (free) account, then you can only directly message LinkedIn members that you’re connected to.

LinkedIn Premium: The subscription level of LinkedIn that includes access to more features. This includes four plans: Premium Career, Premium Business,?Sales Navigator Core and Recruiter Lite. Each plan is a higher financial investment and provides a higher level of features.

Meanings of Reactions

Celebrate – Expresses that you’re celebrating an announcement, congratulating a personal or professional milestone, or praising an accomplishment. For example:

• Welcoming a new team member.
• Securing a speaking opportunity, getting promoted, or landing a new job.
• Completing a successful project launch on time or fun team offsite to end a strong quarter.

Support – Expresses that you empathize with someone’s experience or support them during a challenging time. For example:

• Demonstrating you’re there for a connection who was vulnerable about their journey in finding a new job.
• Encouraging a coworker who is finding work from home difficult to manage.

Love – Expresses that the post is heartwarming, resonates with you, or makes you feel an overall sense of appreciation or happiness. For example:

• When your child visits you at work and thinks you have the greatest job in the world.
• Posts about the importance of work-life balance.
• Witnessing a colleague achieve a goal.
• Thanking your past mentors who helped you get to where you are today.

Insightful – Expresses that you thought the post made a great point, offered a new idea, or shared helpful insights or advice. For example:

• When your company encourages you to take a day off each month to work on a project that you’re passionate about.
• Posts about tips and tricks.

Funny – Expresses that the post made you laugh, felt humorous, or offered light-hearted fun in a professional context.

For example:

• Laughing along with a coworker who shared a funny virtual meeting mistake while working from home.
• Sharing an inside joke relevant to your role or industry.
• Heartwarming humor that shows vulnerability.

Key terms specific to content

Posts: Content shared through the LinkedIn feed. This content may consist of a wide range of information that may be of interest to other professionals on LinkedIn. Posts may contain media (for example, photos or videos) and third-party content (for example, URL). ?

Reposts: Sharing content that has been created by other LinkedIn members.

Articles: Long-form, in-depth content that may be distributed to your LinkedIn connections and beyond. Articles typically consist of professional insights that can help members establish their brands in their areas of expertise.

Newsletters: Can be used to talk about a professional topic you’re passionate about on a regular basis. LinkedIn members can subscribe to your newsletter to be notified about new articles you publish, allowing you to build and grow a regularly engaged audience.?

Post Performance

Engagements: The total number of engagements on the post, including reactions, comments, and reposts.

Impressions: The number of times your post was displayed on screen. This number is an estimate and may not be precise.

Top demographics of unique viewers: Demographic information about the unique members your post was displayed to. Unique viewers represents the number of members your post was displayed to at least once. Multiple impressions can come from the same unique viewer. If your post was displayed to one member five times, this will be counted as five impressions and one unique viewer.

Article Performance

Engagements: The total number of engagements on the post containing your article, including reactions, comments, and shares.

Impressions -?The number of times the post containing your article was displayed on screen. This number is an estimate and may not be precise.

Article views - The number of times a member clicked on your article to view it on the article page or viewed it in a newsletter email. Article views from organizations are not included.

Article viewer demographics?- Demographic information about the members who clicked on your article to read it on the article page. This will not include viewers who viewed it in a newsletter email.

Video Performance

Peak live viewers - The highest number of viewers who were watching the video while it was live.

Peak live viewers - The highest number of viewers who were watching the video while it was live.

Views - Number of times this video was displayed on screen for more than two seconds.

Viewers - Number of members who displayed this video on screen for more than two seconds.

Video viewer demographics - Demographic information about members who displayed this video on screen.

?Newsletter Performance

Impressions - The number of times your newsletter articles were displayed on screen within the date range selected at the top of the newsletter analytics page.

Engagements - The number of engagements received within the selected date range on the posts containing your newsletter articles, including reactions, comments, and shares.

Article views - The number of times within the selected date range a member clicked on one of your newsletter articles to view it on the article page or viewed it in a newsletter email. Article views from organizations are not included.

New subscribers - The number of members who subscribed to your newsletter(s).

{Definitions are in whole or part from LinkedIn Help.}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clarene Mitchell is the Founder/CEO of TCM Communications. She changes the trajectory of lives and businesses, one LinkedIn profile at a time. She accomplishes this through her results-orientated LinkedIn one-on-one coaching, corporate training, done-for-you services and event speaking. Clarene is also the author of 'Shine Online with LinkedIn.'

She has been creating daily content on LinkedIn since 2016. She's been a beta tester for several of LinkedIn's features and In January 2021, LinkedIn recognized her 'Shine Online Bulletin' as a Top Pick for learning how to enhance your network and online visibility. In the fall of 2023, she was selected by LinkedIn out of thousands of applicants to participate in its inaugural Technology & Innovation cohort of its Creator Accelerator Program (CAP).

Schedule a complimentary 30-minute Zoom session with Clarene to receive an audit of your LinkedIn profile and learn how she can help you Shine Online! ??