LinkedIn — connecting to nearby LI members via Bluetooth Network

Published On: August 5th, 2024||Categories: Tech Tips||Tags: , , ||

LinkedIn — connecting to nearby LI members via Bluetooth Network

Ran out of business cards at an event or just in general? You could always whip out a pen (if you have one handy — and you should — and write down a prospective clients name and number.) Seems a bit slow and archaic. Or, you could use your phone’s voice recorder and speak your potential contact’s info into the memo…okkkk…well, why not try LinkedIn’s new “Find Nearby” feature? It’s easy, techie, and quite frankly, a great conversation starter/ice-breaker whether or not the other person has used this feature or not.

What is “Find Nearby”?

With “Find Nearby,” LinkedIn wants to help you connect with the people you meet during meetings, conferences, and events. “Find Nearby” uses your device’s Bluetooth to work and “scan” the people around you. Of course, all users would need to activate the feature to be discoverable. Once activated, you can choose to let people nearby discover you, for the next one to three days – or forever – which, in LinkedIn’s terms, means weekdays, 9am-5pm.

From a compliance and privacy standpoint, this feature is GDPR compliant as members need to opt-in and give their consent to use the feature and share their approximate location. Additionally, Find Nearby does not collect or store members’ location information on LinkedIn’s servers.

So why not give it a try?*/**

*Disclaimer — yes, I tend to always say something similar to this around unfamiliar faces and potential clients — it is ‘tech‘ or software…it can be buggy, and sometimes not even find the person standing in front of you. With that said, I use it, it works for me, but you should always proceed with caution when trying out something ‘new’ on your phone.

**Disclaimer #2 — The people on this EXAMPLE are NOT connected to me. Please don’t go and connect with them based on this EXAMPLE picture.

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