LinkedIn glossary
Short, plain-English definitions of the LinkedIn terms people search for most. Each term links to the free tool or guide that goes deeper.
A
- Alt text
- Alt text is a short written description of an image that screen readers read aloud, so people who cannot see the picture still understand what it shows.
B
- Boolean search
- Boolean search on LinkedIn means combining keywords with operators such as AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks and parentheses to make a people or job search more precise.
C
- Connection degrees
- Connection degrees show how close a LinkedIn member is to you: 1st means directly connected, 2nd means connected to one of your connections, 3rd means one step further out.
D
- Document posts
- A document post is a LinkedIn post with an uploaded file, usually a PDF, that appears in the feed as a set of pages readers can swipe or click through.
- Dwell time
- Dwell time is how long a person spends viewing a post in their LinkedIn feed, including time spent reading it after expanding it or opening its media.
E
- Endorsements
- An endorsement is a one-click confirmation from a LinkedIn connection that you have a specific skill listed on your profile, shown as a count next to that skill.
- Engagement bait
- Engagement bait is a post that asks people to like, comment, share or tag others mainly to boost its reach, rather than to start a real conversation.
- Engagement pods
- An engagement pod is a group of LinkedIn members who agree to like and comment on each other's posts, often right after publishing, to try to boost reach.
F
- Followers vs connections
- A connection is a two-way link both members agree to, while a follower is someone who sees your public posts in their feed without you needing to accept them.
I
- InMail
- InMail is a LinkedIn message you can send to a member you are not connected with, usually using credits that come with a paid LinkedIn plan.
L
- LinkedIn articles
- A LinkedIn article is a long-form piece published with LinkedIn's built-in publishing tool, with its own title, cover image and web page, separate from a regular feed post.
- LinkedIn company pages
- A LinkedIn company page is an organization's official presence on LinkedIn, run by page admins, where the company shares updates, jobs and information with its followers.
- LinkedIn Groups
- LinkedIn Groups are communities inside LinkedIn where members with a shared profession, industry or interest can post, comment and discuss topics together.
- LinkedIn Live
- LinkedIn Live is a feature that lets eligible members and company pages broadcast live video on LinkedIn, with viewers able to watch and comment in real time.
- LinkedIn newsletters
- A LinkedIn newsletter is a recurring series of articles published on LinkedIn that members can subscribe to, so they are notified each time a new issue comes out.
- LinkedIn Premium
- LinkedIn Premium is a family of paid subscriptions that add features to a free LinkedIn account, such as InMail credits, extra profile insights and learning content.
M
- Mentions
- A mention is a tag in a LinkedIn post or comment, made by typing @ and a name, that links to a person or page and usually notifies them.
- Mutual connections
- Mutual connections are the 1st-degree LinkedIn connections you share with another member, shown on their profile as people you both know.
P
- Pending invitations
- A pending invitation is a LinkedIn connection request that has been sent but not yet accepted or ignored by the person who received it.
R
- Reposts
- A repost is when you share another member's or page's LinkedIn post with your own network, either as is or with your own commentary added above it.
S
- See more fold
- The see more fold is the point where LinkedIn cuts off a long post in the feed and adds a see more link that readers tap to expand the full text.
U
- Unicode text formatting
- Unicode text formatting means using special Unicode characters that look like bold, italic or other styled letters, so text appears formatted in places like LinkedIn that lack formatting buttons.