How to avoid LinkedIn jail

Do something wrong on LinkedIn? You wind up in LinkedIn jail.

Your offence might be swearing, abuse, or going hard on the cut ‘n paste in your comments.

You get a few forced days off. Hopefully, it’s only temporary. But if you’re very naughty, it could be a while. Perhaps forever. Crikey.

LinkedIn is very sensitive. A bit like me when my husband comments on my driving.

So what is LinkedIn jail? 

When you break LinkedIn’s terms and conditions, you’re off to the naughty corner. This can come as a nasty surprise. One day, you’re happily killing it on LinkedIn. Suddenly, this delightful popup appears. (Or something similar, depending on your crime.)

You’ve stuffed it—you’re in Linky jail. 

I’m a jail bunny myself 

In early 2022, I was put in LinkedIn jail, whoops. Here’s a video where I explain what happened. As well as a few common triggers that will land you in the big house. 

The official word from LinkedIn about LinkedIn jail 

Today, in the spirit of research, I read LinkedIn’s official terms and conditions. Honestly, they’re actually pretty good. Clear and not very brain-hurty at all. Good job LinkedIn! 

However, the precise details of what lands you in LinkedIn jail is vague. 

Safe and trustworthy, I get. But being professional can be open to interpretation. 

One thing LinkedIn does state clearly?  It 100% reserves the right to boot you off. 

So to find out what really gets you in LinkedIn jail, I’ve been following many LinkedIn creators and gathering their stories of their incarceration. 

Which brings me to my list of eight things (I believe) you can do to land yourself in Linky jail. 

LinkedIn jail trigger #1: adding connections too fast

This was my crime. 

On my mobile, I was using the ‘people you may know with similar roles’ and swiping.

I got trigger happy and added loadsa people, real quick. And that triggered the alert. I was kicked off for a few days. I was on holiday at the time, so I didn’t worry, just tried to log in again a few days later and all was well.

Also, might I add? LinkedIn shouldn’t make it easy to do this and then penalise you for doing it. Humf.

The limit to LinkedIn invitations is about 100 per week. To build your audience quickly, consider upgrading to Premium. When I was a Premium user, LinkedIn seemed a-ok with adding connections quickly.

LinkedIn jail trigger #2: cut ‘n paste commenting

You have a few go-to comments and you cut and paste them on Linky. Boom. You’re out.

This might happen if you try the engagement-boosting tactic of adding ‘comment if you want a freebie’ in your posts. And then in reply you tell everyone, ‘great, sending you a DM with the link.’

LinkedIn will notice your same comment being posted repeatedly and quickly. Then you get the flick. This can also happen if you post the same comment on several posts.

Take it from an ex con: don’t use cut and paste comments

LinkedIn jail trigger #3: calling someone a dickhead who probably deserved it

There’s always a nuff nuff who thinks Andrew Tate is a decent but misunderstood bloke. Or that women shouldn’t have the right to decide what happens to their own bodies.

Naturally, if you’re anything like me, you want to give those knobjobs a piece of your mind.

Sadly, some bozos seem to freely spew hate and face no consequence. Meanwhile, your pithy and derisive comment calling them a fuckface is likely to get you banned.

This is a hard one. Because I want to speak out about important things. But I also don’t want to be put in jail.

If we stay silent? Then change can’t happen.

So just… take it easy. Don’t call names. Show restraint. You probably aren’t gonna change Daryl’s mind about vaccinations. That bloke in England who thinks women are ‘asking for it’ when they wear short skirts? He’s too far gone on the misogyny train to let one argument with you change his tracks.

Take it from an ex con: politely disagree and move on.

LinkedIn jail trigger #4: getting hacked

How much does this suck? But if LinkedIn notices someone dodgy trying to access your account, it will suspend access, to keep you safe.

So by no fault of your own, you might get in jail.

Take it from an ex con: Have a strong password and change it frequently to avoid being hacked.

LinkedIn jail trigger #5: swearing

Annoying, because I like to say shit a lot. And I wish I could throw in a random, ‘this is the tits’ or ‘that is a dick move’.

But on LinkedIn, people get in jail for swearing.

This bloke in New Zealand got permanently banned and had to beg for reinstatement. Just for using the F and C word. (Where we come from? Terms of endearment!)

On the other hand, I see people swearing on Linky all the time without consequence. So it’s confusing.

Take it from an ex con: avoid swearing. Even the asterisks like sh!t and f*ck, to be super safe.

Luckily here on my own blog I can swear as much as I want. Fuck yeah!

LinkedIn jail trigger #6: using automation tools or bots

Some people like to use bots to send random DMs. This annoys the shit out of everyone, including LinkedIn.

Unsurprisingly, this is a breach of LinkedIn’s terms, which state you can’t ‘Use bots or other automated methods to access the Services, add or download contacts, send or redirect messages.’

I heard of a woman whose VA sent 1000 DMs and got jailed. That was dumb.

However, having an outbound lead gen strategy using LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a different thing. And not the same as using crappy bots.

Take it from an ex con: don’t use bots to send DMs or automate comments

LinkedIn jail trigger #7: being fake

If you have a fake profile and it gets flagged by LinkedIn users, you’ll be out.

Which is great, because we all have seen those dodgy fake profiles. Here’s a useful post about how to spot fake profiles.

Take it from an ex con: don’t be fake (should be easy, since you’re a real person.)

LinkedIn jail trigger #8: engagement pods

An engagement pod is a dumb hack that everyone tried back in 2018 and now we all know better. This is where you and a bunch of mates comment on each other’s posts. It’s meant to trick the algorithm into thinking your content is good, but it’s dodgy and doesn’t work.

What happens instead? Your reach tanks, you waste valuable time. Then LinkedIn notices and you get put in jail.

Take it from an ex con: Don’t join Linky engagement pods.

Things that are technically wrong but don’t seem to land you in LinkedIn jail

Lots of people do these things. So I am pretty sure they are a-ok with Linky:

1. Sharing access to your account with your team, VA or social media manager.
2. Using scheduling tools. Technically Linky doesn’t like it but everybody does it, so it must be fine, right?
3. Sending connection requests to people you don’t know. Linky has an ‘I don’t know this person’ button. If too many people click that and reject your connection request, you might end up in jail. But I haven’t heard of this happening. Loadsa people make friends on LinkedIn without knowing each other. It’s not 2015 anymore.
4. Adding extra crap to your name. Such as including your job title (eg ‘Wandalinda Cuthbert – Funfluencer & Rollercoaster Tester). Or putting an emoji in your name. Technically it’s against the terms, but I see lots of people do it.
5. Using the pronouns space for marketing messaging. I find this incredibly disrespectful. There are lots of places to sell yourself and this ain’t one. Uncool. But doesn’t get you the clink.

Help! I’m in LinkedIn jail – how do I get out?

Don’t panic. Most people seem to be in jail for a few days. From what I’ve heard, LinkedIn will give you instructions on how to appeal your conviction. Visit LinkedIn help for more tips relative to your situation.

If you get a chance to plead your case? Explain what happened. If you were naughty, tell them you are sorry and won’t do it again. It’s important that you demonstrate that you understand how you broke the rules.

What to do once your account is reinstated

Behave yourself, obviously.

But it doesn’t hurt to play it extra safe. Keep a limit on your connection requests and don’t send them without customising the intro message. Cut back on the unsolicited DMs and connections.

Consider upgrading to Premium for a few months after your jail stint, just to be on the safe side. So if your budget allows, and you still want the freedom to grow your network, try it.

Withdraw pending requests. LinkedIn doesn’t like it if you have too many outstanding connection requests that have been ignored. Go to My Network/Manage/Sent to withdraw any connection request sent more than one or two months ago. Always keep your sent connection requests under 150 outstanding.

Watch your reach. Is your newly reinstated account suffering lower reach? Maybe Linky is still punishing you by limiting exposure of your content. I’m not sure if this is a thing. But pay attention to it, just in case.

Kate, can you help me get out of LinkedIn jail?

No sorry. Your best approach is to use the LinkedIn help centre for the latest guidance.

So to summarise, how to avoid LinkedIn jail:

1. Don’t add connections too fast
2. Don’t cut and paste comments
3. Don’t abuse others (even if they deserve it)
4. Don’t get hacked
5. Don’t swear
6. Don’t use automation tools
7. Don’t be fake
8. Don’t join engagement pods