LinkedIn Updates Tool to Find New Connections

LinkedIn this week updated a key feature that now produces personalized suggestions of people you might know and like to connect with.

The “People You May Know” tool, which had been located in the top-right of the screen when you log in, displays three potential contacts. In the next few weeks, however, LinkedIn will be rolling out a more comprehensive version that makes finding new connections a lot easier.

The new “People You May Know,” currently in beta, uses LinkedIn’s algorithm that takes into account factors such as your existing network, past workplaces and where you’ve gone to school, to produce a categorized portfolio of potential connections.

If the feature hasn’t rolled out to you yet, you can still try out the the new LinkedIn “People You May Know.” tool.

[Want more LinkedIn tips, tricks and analysis? Check out CIO.com’s LinkedIn Bible.]

When you visit the page, you’ll notice a row of icons at the top—these are the networks in which LinkedIn’s algorithm has determined you may have contacts. You can click the + symbol to expand to view all your networks, and click on one to sort the list.

There are a few other noteworthy features in this update, too. First is the “Connect All” button, found beneath you network icons. Click it to connect with all the individuals in that particular list at once. Otherwise, just use the “Connect” button under each contact to connect with only the ones you want. You’re not sent to a new page, either, when you send an invitation to connect—it’s all done from within the page.

If you want to remove a person from one of your suggested lists, hover over their card and click the X. That person will be removed and a new potential contact will appear.

Lastly, the “People You May Know” page is designed with infinite scrolling. Once you reach the bottom of the page, new contacts will load, which saves you the hassle of clicking through multiple pages.

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Kristin Burnham covers consumer technology, social networking and enterprise collaboration for CIO.com. Follow Kristin on Twitter @kmburnham. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline and on Facebook. Email Kristin at kburnham@cio.com