On Tuesday, LinkedIn users began reporting a significant drop in their follower counts, with some losing hundreds of followers in a short period.
As the platform remained silent for much of the day, speculation grew that LinkedIn was purging fake, inactive, or duplicate accounts.
Several users claimed the drop was due to LinkedIn taking action to clean up the platform, while others seized the moment to promote services aimed at preventing LinkedIn account bans. Several users expressed concerns about what may have caused the sudden decline in their follower numbers.
By the end of the day, LinkedIn addressed the issue, stating that it had resolved the problem but providing little detail on its cause. “We heard some members may have seen a change in their connection and follower count,” LinkedIn shared in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “Our team quickly looked into this. We’re happy to report this has now been resolved.”
The company also updated its Status page, noting that the issue had been documented at 6 a.m. ET and marked as resolved by 1 p.m. ET. LinkedIn did not elaborate on what led to the follower count fluctuations.
While LinkedIn stopped short of confirming a deliberate account purge, the idea wasn’t far-fetched. Social networks like X have routinely conducted purges to eliminate spammers, bots, and inactive users. However, on LinkedIn, where follower counts are crucial for professional visibility and credibility, such drops can have serious implications for users who rely on their profiles for marketing and business purposes.
The situation also drew attention to LinkedIn’s communication approach. The platform did not immediately acknowledge the issue on its own LinkedIn account, and its X account has been inactive since May 2023, which may have contributed to the confusion surrounding the incident.
Ultimately, while LinkedIn claims the issue has been resolved, it left some users questioning the platform’s transparency handling during service disruptions.
