Connect when you want a conversation. Follow when you only want someone's posts. That is the whole LinkedIn follow vs connect decision in two sentences: only a connection turns a stranger into a 1st-degree connection you can message at any time, while following is one-way, needs no invitation and suits everyone you want to listen to before you speak.
This guide explains what 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree mean on LinkedIn, what each degree lets you do, and the order in which to visit, follow and connect. Every LinkedIn detail is backed by LinkedIn Help. Last updated: 28 September 2026.
LinkedIn connection degrees: what 1st, 2nd and 3rd mean
Next to every name in search results and on profiles, LinkedIn shows a small badge: 1st, 2nd or 3rd. It tells you how far that person sits from you in your network, and that distance decides what you can do with them.
- 1st degree: You are directly connected because one of you accepted the other's invitation.
- 2nd degree: The person is connected to one of your 1st-degree connections. You can send them an invitation with the Connect button on their profile.
- 3rd degree: The person is connected to one of your 2nd-degree connections.
- Fellow group members: People in the same LinkedIn group count as part of your network. You can message them or reach them directly in the group.
- Out of network: Everyone else. Some profile fields have limited visibility, and if the option is available, you can send an InMail.
Source: LinkedIn Help: Your Network and Degrees of Connection, accessed 28 September 2026. The same page sets the ceiling: a maximum of 30,000 1st-degree connections per member.
What each degree lets you see and do
Degree | Message | Invitation | Profile and contact info |
|---|---|---|---|
1st | Yes, directly and without credits | Not needed, you are connected | Full profile; contact info as far as they share it |
2nd | Only via InMail (Premium) or free to an Open Profile | Yes, via Connect on their profile | Profile generally visible, contact info not |
3rd | Only via InMail (Premium) or free to an Open Profile | Possible where Connect is shown | Profile generally visible, contact info not |
Group member | Yes, by message or in the group | Depends on the degree | Shared groups may appear under Highlights |
Out of network | InMail, if available | No Connect button | Some fields limited |
The evidence: LinkedIn states that you "can only message your connections"; if you are not connected, you can send an InMail, which requires a Premium subscription (LinkedIn Help: Send messages to connections). Contact info is "only visible to your 1st-degree connections" (LinkedIn Help: What People Can See on Your Profile), while a profile is generally visible to all signed-in members, with the exceptions listed there. And when a member is out of network, the Connect button does not appear (LinkedIn Help: Missing connect button on profile). All accessed 28 September 2026.
Messaging 2nd and 3rd-degree connections
Without a connection you have two routes. The first is InMail: a Premium feature with a limited number of credits, and members who have opted out of InMail in their settings cannot receive one (LinkedIn Help: InMail Messages). The second is Open Profile: anyone on LinkedIn can contact a Premium member with Open Profile enabled for free, even outside their own network (LinkedIn Help: Open Profile and messages). Both accessed 28 September 2026.
The "3rd+" filter in people search
In people search, the Connections filter at the top lets you narrow results to 1st, 2nd and 3rd+. LinkedIn notes that the 3rd+ filter includes everyone who matches your criteria, so it also covers members outside your network. Source: LinkedIn Help: 2nd and 3rd degree connections in search, accessed 28 September 2026.
LinkedIn follow vs connect: the difference
LinkedIn calls following and connecting two ways to build a professional network: following lets you learn from someone's content, connecting builds a two-way relationship. When you follow someone, their public posts show up in your feed, but you don't become part of their network and they won't automatically see your posts. Source: LinkedIn Help: Follow and connect on LinkedIn, accessed 28 September 2026.
Aspect | Follow | Connect |
|---|---|---|
Direction | One-way, no approval needed | Two-way, the other person must accept |
Feed | You see their public posts | You both see each other's posts |
Messages | No, only via InMail or Open Profile | Yes, directly |
Contact info | No | Yes, as far as shared |
Limit | Up to 5,000 people who aren't connections | Up to 30,000 1st-degree connections |
Undo | Unfollow any time; they are not notified | A pending invitation can be withdrawn |
The 5,000 figure and the silent unfollow come from LinkedIn Help: Follow or unfollow people: people you unfollow are not notified, but if you start following them again, they receive a notification. If you unfollow a 1st-degree connection, you stay connected and simply stop seeing their updates. Accessed 28 September 2026.
It works the other way round too: your 1st-degree connections automatically follow your posts and articles (LinkedIn Help: Manage who can follow you, accessed 28 September 2026). Every accepted invitation therefore also gives you a reader. That is a good reason to post regularly once your network starts growing.
When a profile shows Follow instead of Connect
Any member can go to Settings, then Visibility, and make Follow the primary action for people viewing their profile. You then see Follow at the top of the profile, and Connect moves into the More menu. People who choose this mainly want readers. Source: LinkedIn Help: Manage who can follow you, accessed 28 September 2026.
You can still connect. Three things to know:
- If you send an invitation through More, you automatically follow the person while the invitation is pending.
- If they decline, you keep following them unless you manually unfollow.
- For some of these members, LinkedIn may ask you for their email address before the invitation goes out.
Sources: LinkedIn Help: Follow and connect on LinkedIn and LinkedIn Help: Connect with people using a follow button on their profile, both accessed 28 September 2026.
Read that setting as a signal. Someone with Follow as their main button is telling you how they want to be approached. Follow first, comment on a post or two, and send the invitation once you have a reason.
When to follow and when to connect
LinkedIn's own rule of thumb is simple. People you know from work, school or your community: connect. People whose posts you enjoy but don't know: follow. Someone you just met at an event: connect with a note. And if you are exploring a new field, follow the voices there first (LinkedIn Help: Follow and connect on LinkedIn). LinkedIn adds that connecting works best when you have a clear professional reason to reach out (LinkedIn Help: Various ways to connect, both accessed 28 September 2026).
For sales, recruiting and job hunting, we translate that into five cases:
- Decision-makers with a visible need: connect. You want to talk to them, and without InMail credits that only works at 1st degree. Visit the profile first and find a reason for your note.
- Multipliers and thought leaders: follow. You want to read and comment on their posts, not negotiate with them. Many already have Follow as their primary action.
- Candidates in recruiting: follow first, then connect. You see what someone is working on and can refer to it in your invitation.
- 2nd-degree connections with a mutual contact: connect, and mention the mutual contact if they are happy for you to do so.
- People with no link to you at all: follow until a reason appears. An invitation without a reason uses up a slot in your weekly invitation allowance, and you need those slots for decision-makers.
A three-step connection strategy
An order that gives your invitation a reason: visit, then follow, then connect, with a few days between each step.
- Visit the profile: Read what the person does, what they post and whether you share connections. This is where you decide whether they belong in your target audience at all.
- Follow: Their posts appear in your feed. You can react or comment, which gives you a genuine reference point for your invitation later.
- Connect after a gap: A few days later you send the invitation. Whether you add a note depends on your audience; short and specific beats long and generic.
The gap between the steps is the point. With a few days in between, your invitation has a genuine reason: the post you read or commented on.
When you connect, LinkedIn sometimes asks "How do you know [name]?". If you select "We don't know each other", you may be prompted to send a message first, which depending on the recipient's settings could be an InMail (LinkedIn Help: Various ways to connect, accessed 28 September 2026). Another reason the follow step pays off: if you have already commented on their posts, you have context you can point to.
Connection note templates by degree
Names are examples. Keep the note short, state your reason and leave the pitch out.
2nd-degree connection with a mutual contact
Hi Jana, Mark Weber mentioned you're building out your sales team in Austria. I'm working on something similar and would love to connect.
3rd-degree connection you already follow
Hi Tobias, I've been reading your posts on onboarding new sales hires for a few weeks. Your point about the first 30 days stuck with me. Happy to connect?
Fellow group member outside your immediate circle
Hi Sabine, we're both in the learning and development group for mid-sized companies, and your question about mentoring programmes caught my eye. I'd be glad to connect.
Once they accept, they are a 1st-degree connection. Your first message after that opens a conversation; it does not sell anything yet.
How CompLeadly helps
CompLeadly is a desktop app for Windows and macOS that runs locally on your computer through your own IP. You can set up the three steps above as a workflow.
- Visit and follow (Auto-Visitor): The feature visits the profiles in your target audience and, if you switch on the option to follow visited profiles, follows each profile it visits. You build the audience from a LinkedIn people search, a Sales Navigator search or, with Recruiter access, from Recruiter searches; lists can be imported.
- Visit, follow later, then connect: We have documented exactly this sequence as a use case. In expert mode you create two sequences with Visit & Follow, the first one without following, plus a third with Connect, and schedule them with the gap you want.
- Connect with a note: Invitations go out with or without a connection message. Placeholders such as first name or company fill in details from the profile.
- Unfollow: The Unfollower feature unfollows people you follow but are not connected to, with a daily limit you set. That keeps your follow list focused on the people who matter to you.
- Pace: Every feature has its own daily limit, such as the maximum number of profiles to connect with per day. Our knowledge base recommends around 50 connection requests a day; LinkedIn's weekly invitation limit sits at roughly 200, and CompLeadly's statistics show your exact limit.
- Statistics: For each feature and week you see invitations, acceptances and replies, so you can check whether "follow first, then connect" earns more acceptances with your audience than a direct invitation.
Step-by-step setup guides for all of this are in the CompLeadly guide.
After the 10-day trial with every feature, you can keep using CompLeadly for free with the basic features and daily limits, for example 25 profile visits, 2 connection requests and 1 opener per day, each step started on its own; full workflows start with Basic. You'll find every plan on the pricing page.
The same approach for recruiting and job hunting
In recruiting, "follow first, then connect" is often a better opening than an instant invitation. You build the audience in CompLeadly from a Recruiter search, a Sales Navigator search or a standard people search, let the Auto-Visitor visit and follow the profiles, and connect a few days later with a note that picks up a post or project of the candidate. Once they accept, the opener takes over and replies land in Smart Chat. More on the recruiters page and in our recruiting message templates.
As a job seeker, follow your target employer and the people who hire there: hiring managers, team leads, recruiters. You see what they post and can connect with a concrete reference instead of a cold request. The free plan's 25 profile visits and 2 connection requests per day cover this well, because in a job search every single invitation counts. Tips are in 10 common LinkedIn mistakes when job hunting and in our post on Open to Work.
FAQ
What does 1st mean on LinkedIn?
The person is your 1st-degree connection: one of you accepted the other's invitation. You can message them directly and see their contact info as far as they share it.
Can I message 2nd or 3rd-degree connections?
Not directly. You need an InMail, which requires Premium, unless the person has an Open Profile, in which case the message is free. The usual route is to connect first.
Do I automatically follow someone when I connect?
Once you are connected, you follow each other as 1st-degree connections; LinkedIn states that 1st-degree connections automatically follow your posts. If the person has Follow as their primary action, you already follow them while your invitation is pending.
Does someone know when I unfollow them?
No. According to LinkedIn, people are not notified when you unfollow them. If you follow them again later, they do get a notification.
How many people can I follow?
Up to 5,000 people who aren't your connections. For 1st-degree connections the limit is 30,000.
