Im sure you recognise this invitation in which you select the category about how you ‘know’ someone.

LinkedIn make it clear that they don’t like you to invite people you don’t know, however they don’t make it clear LinkedIn’s punishment.

Even when you click on the Find Out Why link it says:

This part is completely understated.  In fact if five people say they don’t know you, you get blacklisted, and you can no longer invite people by name you have to know their email address.

In fact they hide it so deep in their FAQ’s it is unlikely you are ever going to stumble upon it.

Why Would Someone Press I Don’t Know (IDK)?

If you send an invitation to someone on LinkedIn, they have the option to Accept, Archive, or say “I don’t know this user”.   So why would they choose the later?  Perhaps they don’t recognise you from an event as they met so many people, or they don’t remember you from school or perhaps you have a new surname.  Whatever the reason, once someone IDK’s you, you are stuck with a red card.

Find Out Who IDK’d You

Follow these easy steps to find out…

•    Go to your LinkedIn home page
•    Go to your Inbox
•    Click Sent
•    Click on Status – this puts it in alphabetical order.
•    At the bottom of your page it will be numbered 1,2,3 etc. Click through these until you find the status ‘Doesn’t know you’
•    Now you know the culprits

How to Fix It

Supposedly, if you get them to invite you, it eliminates the IDK, but this is only hearsay.  The  best way to get off the blacklist is  to  put your tail between your legs and send an apology to LinkedIn’s customer service at cs@linkedin.com and they will let you off with your offence once and your IDK’s will be reset.

Finally…Be Mindful

Before you click the IDK button, think carefully.  You can always click archive so that

• You don’t wreck someone’s credibility
• You can think about who the person is and come back to it at a later date.

Moral of the story? Be careful who you ask to connect with and also who you IDK!

If you havent already connected with me on LinkedIn click here - I promise I won’t IDK you :- )

What are your thoughts?