Why You Should Think Twice Before Copying Multiple People into Your LinkedIn Messages

“Nigel left the conversation”

A bit blunt isn’t it?!

I wanted to share a valuable LinkedIn Messages tip with you.

I understand that we’re all busy, so it is tempting, I know, to save time by cc’ing (copying in) multiple people into a private message on LinkedIn.

I did it, once, many years ago and realised my folly very quickly!

What I hadn’t appreciated is that, if anyone replied, (which of course I wished them to do!), their replies were seen by everyone to whom I had sent the message! Arghhh!

They hadn’t appreciated that their reply was public and thought the reply was just to me. You can imagine the kind of horror I experienced.

Lack of privacy and being misled aren’t the only issues that cc’ing everyone into a private LinkedIn message can cause.

A Connection of mine, Group Marketing Manager for Stokvis Industrial Boiler (International) Ltd, Angela Spurling shared her experience on LinkedIn of being part of a fairly large group message which was intended for all members to contribute their suggestions for an event. When she arrived at work and her wi-fi reconnected, her phone didn’t stop pinging with message notifications from a large group chat for 2 continuous minutes! Although it was a tad embarrassing, she reports that, on the plus side, it did make her appear to be very popular!

Despite being impractical and at times, embarrassing, there may be a time and a place for Group messages/messages that copy several people in at once.

My fellow LinkedIn Trainer, Jeff Young, imparted his wisdom on LinkedIn.

There is one instance where this seems to work out well. That’s when you want to be in an ongoing conversation with a group of your peers. I am in a group like this with about 30 other like-minded LinkedIn Experts and I learn a great deal by interacting with them (especially when something new on LinkedIn rolls out). I think you and Darrel Griffin might enjoy being a part of it. You know many of the participants already. I can ask for your names to be added if you like!

Sharing Ideas on LinkedIn

One of the purposes of LinkedIn is to share ideas, advice, and inspiration – to the extent that one of LinkedIn’s Reactions is ‘Insightful’, a light bulb symbol! Therefore, Jeff’s suggestion of using LinkedIn group messages to facilitate beneficially and stimulating conversations with like-minded people makes total sense. LinkedIn Groups might be a good option if you’re looking to share ideas with a wider community, whilst having discussions openly in comments on your Posts and articles may also be a good step if you don’t mind taking the privacy away from your conversations.

Watch the video below to learn more about how to use the LinkedIn group message channel to add value to your network.

On a side note, Jeff’s quote above demonstrates the importance of posting and, more crucially, engaging on LinkedIn. I published what I hoped was a helpful post, and Jeff engaged with it by offering his own handy insights. Due to his interaction, I now know of and I’m lucky enough to be part of (courtesy of Jeff adding/inviting me in) a group message with other LinkedIn experts and trainers. This wouldn’t have been possible, and the group message wouldn’t have been on my radar, had Jeff not interacted with my post.

To recap, if you are just looking to copy many people into a private LinkedIn message to save time (and frankly, to be a bit lazy) then remember doing so can:

• result in a loss of privacy
• mislead recipients
• be embarrassing for recipients
• be impractical (keeping track of replies and the conversation can be tricky)
• taint your online (and therefore) reputation

Many People Make the LinkedIn Messages Mistake Once…

It takes just a few more seconds to send the message individually to each person, so it is well worth doing so.

I just hope this post prevents you from having to learn, as I did, from the mistake!