LinkedIN Will Now Let You Block Other Users. Finally.

Business networking site LinkedIn has finally enabled a feature that allows its members to block other users.

After mounting pressure from its users, LinkedIn added a block user feature, to help curtail stalking on the site and give members some control over who is seeing their information. Via Digital Trends:

Announced on the LinkedIn Help Center
earlier this week, the social network for business users rolled out a
new feature that’s been sought after by the community for quite some
time. Bringing LinkedIn in line with social networks like Facebook and
Twitter, users can now block specific member profiles
on the site. To access the new feature, users simply visit the profile
of the person they want to block and click the down arrow to the right
of ‘Send InMail’ button and select the ‘Block or report’ option.
According to the detail page, users can block up to 50 profiles, ideal
for ditching stalkers, exes or even annoying recruiters.

This is great news to members who have had to deal with stalkers that had no way of hiding certain information on the site, such as Anna R, who helped launch the movement for a blocking feature:

A public conversation about the lack of a permanent blocking function
on LinkedIn kicked off last year when a woman known as Anna R.
from Columbus, Ohio launched an online petition
calling for the feature. Anna had experienced a sexual assault in the
workplace forcing her to abandon the job. While she could escape her
assailant on other social networks, he became a constant stalker on
LinkedIn. Due to LinkedIn’s ‘Who’s Viewed Your Profile’ feature, Anna
was constantly alerted on the site and over email each time her
assailant visited her profile. In addition, her stalker would research
all of her LinkedIn connections in an attempt to discover her location.

Blocking on LinkedIn now works by prohibiting access to your profile, and stops the endlessly creepy “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” that was showing people when their stalkers were keeping tabs on them:

If you were
connected to the blocked profile previous, those connections won’t
appear on the site anymore. In addition, endorsements and
recommendations received from the blocked member will disappear.
Finally, the ‘Who’s Viewed Your Profile’ feature will no longer show the
blocked member and LinkedIn will stop suggesting the blocked user in
the ‘People You May Know’ and ‘People also Viewed’ sections.

There is still a concern that users are still able to browse profiles anonymously, however. Some users are pushing the site to do more to prevent anonymous profile browsing, but so far, this is the only type of blocking feature LinkedIn has announced.

Via CNET, here is how to block a user on LinkedIn:

To block a member,
head to that person’s LinkedIn profile and select the “Block or report”
option from the drop-down menu next to the “Connect” and “Send InMail”
buttons. But before you head to that person’s profile, the company
suggests, turn on the anonymous profile-viewing feature, which lets you
see other members’ LinkedIn pages without them knowing it.