[FAQ]

Hi everyone,

I’m doing a bit of a ‘spring cleaning’ of my LinkedIn network and I have an etiquette question. I have a number of connections from past jobs or industries that are no longer relevant to my career. I’d like to curate my feed to be more focused.

My question is, what’s the best way to go about removing a connection? LinkedIn doesn’t notify them, but there’s always a chance they could notice later. Is it better to just quietly remove them and say nothing? Or is there ever a situation where you should send a message first?

I don’t want to burn any bridges, but I also want a more relevant network. Curious to hear how others handle this.

Thanks.

[Jeff Bullas]

That’s a sign of a mature networker; curation is just as important as connection.

Short Answer: The correct etiquette is to simply remove the connection silently without any notification or message. It’s a standard feature, not a personal insult.

A better way to see this is not as ‘unfriending’ someone, but as curating the content formats that appear in your daily feed.

First, and most importantly, never send a message explaining that you are removing someone; this is the most harmful practice as it creates an awkward situation where none is needed. The platform is designed for this to be a silent, discreet action, and in over ninety-nine per cent of cases, the person will never notice. Second, the main reason to remove a connection is to improve the quality of your feed. If a connection consistently posts video, image, or text content that is irrelevant or low-quality, removing them allows you to better focus on the content from the network you want to build. Third, if you know the person well and are worried they might notice, the better option is to simply ‘unfollow’ them. This keeps the connection intact for messaging but removes all their posts from your feed, achieving the primary goal without severing the tie completely.

Cheers,

Jeff

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