LinkedIn is a popular social media platform used primarily for professional networking and career development. On LinkedIn, users can connect with other professionals in their industry or location to build their network. However, sometimes connections on LinkedIn need to be blocked for various reasons. Blocking prevents the blocked user from viewing your profile or contacting you on LinkedIn. But what happens if you later decide to unblock that connection?
Unblocking a connection on LinkedIn essentially reopens the communication between you and that person. Once unblocked, that connection is able to view your profile again and send you messages if they want to reconnect. The connection will not be notified when you unblock them, so reaching out to them is necessary if you want to reestablish contact after unblocking.
Why Would You Block Someone in the First Place?
There are a few common reasons why users block connections on LinkedIn:
– Spam or harassment: If someone is repeatedly sending you unsolicited messages or harassing you, blocking them prevents further contact.
– Bad experience: Perhaps you had a negative business interaction with someone and no longer want to be connected.
– Competition: Some users block competitors so the competitor can’t see details about their company or clients.
– Job seeking privacy: Those who are discreetly job searching may block current coworkers or employers so their activity isn’t visible.
– Relationship issues: People going through a divorce or breakup sometimes block former partners.
– Political or social differences: Blocking connections over political views or social opinions is common.
– Clean up contacts: If you’re trying to pare down your network, removing outdated or inactive connections helps.
So in summary, blocking is generally used to prevent someone from viewing your profile or contacting you on LinkedIn. The reasons range from avoiding harassment to discreet job seeking to clearing out old contacts.
What Changes When You Unblock Someone?
Unblocking a connection essentially reverses the effects of blocking. Here’s what happens when you unblock another user on LinkedIn:
– They can view your full profile again, including your work history, education, skills, endorsements, and recommendations.
– They have access to see your list of connections.
– They can send you connection requests and InMail messages again.
– Your public posts and activity will show in their feed and search results again.
– You will both reappear in each other’s “People Also Viewed” recommendations.
– If you’re connected, they can invite you to groups, events, and jobs again.
– You’ll show up in their searches and as suggested contacts when messaging other people.
So in summary, unblocking restores that user’s ability to see your profile information and interact with you on the platform. An unblocked connection can essentially contact and access you like any other connection.
Does the Unblocked Person Get Notified?
No, connections on LinkedIn do not receive any type of notification when you unblock them. The only way they would know you unblocked them is if you directly reach out and tell them.
Without a notification, the only way the unblocked connection can tell is if they try to view your profile or message you and find they suddenly can. But most people don’t continually check if someone has unblocked them, so they likely won’t notice unless contacted.
Some ways the newly unblocked person may realize you’ve restored their access:
– If you message them or accept a new connection request from them.
– If you react to or comment on one of their posts.
– If you invite them to join a group or attend an event.
– If you appear together in a Facebook mutual friends list.
– If you show up as a “Person Also Viewed” on their profile.
So the unblocked connection probably won’t know unless you intentionally reengage with them in some way. LinkedIn does not send an automatic alert to avoid unwanted contact from previously blocked users.
What Should You Do After Unblocking Someone?
If you want to resume contact after unblocking a connection, it’s wise to take the following steps:
– Message them to explain why you blocked them originally. Be honest about why you felt blocking was necessary before.
– Let them know you’ve chosen to unblock them and are open to connecting again.
– Discuss how you can interact moving forward to address any past issues.
– Ask if they are willing to connect again or prefer you both move on separately.
– Suggest measures to rebuild trust or prevent future misunderstandings.
– Remain civil and don’t refer back to any past disagreements or drama.
– Move forward interacting only as needed if they seem disinterested in reconnecting.
– Respect their wishes if they decline to resume contact after the unblocking.
The key is to be transparent, direct and take the high road in reestablishing contact after an unblocking. Don’t expect everything to instantly revert to how it was before. Moving forward requires open communication, mutual understanding and often some rebuild of the relationship.
Can a Blocked Person Tell if You View Their Profile?
No, when you block someone on LinkedIn, it severs the connection completely in both directions. So just like they can’t see your profile or activity, you also can’t see theirs.
This means a blocked connection has no way of knowing if you view their profile while they are blocked. LinkedIn specifically prevents showing profile view notifications to blocked users to enable the one-way privacy blocking provides.
Some things to know about viewing a blocked profile:
– You’ll have to unblock them temporarily to view their profile.
– They won’t receive a notification that you viewed them while unblocked.
– Reblocking them will again hide their profile and prevent contact.
– You can unblock and reblock as needed to occasionally view their profile.
– Premium account holders can browse in anonymous mode without connections seeing.
So in summary, no notification occurs when viewing someone’s profile that has blocked you. Full blocking prevents either party from seeing the other’s profile or activity.
Can You Tell Who Has Blocked You on LinkedIn?
Unfortunately, LinkedIn does not directly notify users about who has blocked them. The platform is designed this way to protect privacy and prevent retaliation. There are, however, some signs that may indicate another user has blocked you:
– Your messages to them go unanswered or bounce back undelivered.
– You can’t view their full profile when searching for their name.
– They stop appearing as a suggested or mutual connection.
– You disappear from each other’s shared connection networks.
– Your comments on their posts say only “Visible to you.”
– You don’t see their name pop up in notifications or on your newsfeed.
– They are no longer in your LinkedIn groups or communications.
Essentially, a blocked user seems to vanish from your LinkedIn world. But the only way to know for sure is if they directly tell you that they’ve blocked you. LinkedIn believes revealing blocking could undermine the privacy benefit it offers.
Can a Blocked Connection Still See Your Posts?
No, when you block someone on LinkedIn, it completely removes you from their view and them from yours. They can no longer see your profile, posts, or any of your activity. Blocking essentially creates a one-way privacy wall.
Specifically, a blocked connection cannot see:
– Your profile posts, articles, or content you share
– Posts you like, comment on, or otherwise engage with
– Groups you are in or events you attend
– Jobs you have applied to or been hired for
– Changes to your work history or education
– New connections, skills, interests, or experiences
– Any other updates or notifications about you
Your public posts may show up in general Google search results outside of LinkedIn. But within LinkedIn, a blocked connection’s access to your profile and feed is completely cut off. Blocking prevents them from passively viewing your posts within your network.
Can You Get LinkedIn Messages from Blocked Connections?
No, blocked connections on LinkedIn are unable to send you messages. One of the main benefits of blocking is that it stops all communication methods a connection might use.
When you block someone, it bounces any new messages back to the sender as undelivered. At the same time, you stop receiving any future messages from that blocked connection.
Existing conversations will also disappear from your inbox. LinkedIn essentially erases the messaging history between you and a blocked connection.
However, blocking only prevents messages sent within LinkedIn. The blocked person may still email you separately or try to call if they have that contact information. Blocking only limits communication through your LinkedIn account.
Is Unblocking Permanent or Can You Block Them Again?
Unblocking a connection on LinkedIn is not permanent. You can block them again anytime as needed.
When you unblock someone, it simply restores communication privileges as a connection. But you remain in full control of whom you interact with.
If the reasons you initially blocked someone resurface, you can quickly reblock them:
– Their name will disappear from your connections list again.
– You can instantly block them after viewing their profile.
– Use the same blocking steps to remove access once more.
– Blocking and unblocking can be repeated as often as needed.
Think of unblocking as pressing an off-and-on switch for that connection’s privileges. It toggles their access to your profile on or off based on your preferences.
Does Unblocking Remove Them from Your Blocked List?
Yes, the process of unblocking someone also removes their name from your blocked list on LinkedIn. The list simply shows all current blocked connections.
When you unblock a connection:
– Their name disappears from the blocked list.
– They do not require being manually removed.
– The list automatically reflects your current blocking status.
– Unblocking automatically frees them from the list.
– Reblocking later will add them back to the blocked list.
So you don’t have to worry about managing former blocks. The list remains updated to match your blocking preferences as they change over time.
Can You See Who a Blocked Person is Connected To?
No, when you block a connection on LinkedIn, you can no longer see any details about their profile or connections. Their entire profile is hidden from your view per the one-way privacy blocking creates.
Blocking specifically prevents you from seeing:
– Their list of LinkedIn connections
– 2nd- or 3rd-degree connections you may share
– Names of their coworkers, employers, schoolmates, etc.
– Groups, schools, companies, and other networks they are in
– Their recent activity, posts, job changes, education, etc.
Blocking cuts off all visibility into the blocked user’s professional network and profile activity. This ability to sever contact in both directions is an important advantage of LinkedIn blocking.
Conclusion
In summary, unblocking a connection on LinkedIn removes the one-way privacy barrier blocking created between you and that person. It restores their ability to view your full profile, interact with your posts, and contact you on the platform. However, unblocking does not notify the user or automatically reestablish contact. To resume communication after unblocking, it’s wise to message the person and be transparent about your reasons for blocking initially. Though unblocking restores freedoms as a connection, you can reblock that person again at any time if needed. LinkedIn’s blocking feature allows you full control to discreetly manage your professional network and privacy.