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In working on a rather large answer to a question I stumbled upon the Linkedin page of an aerospace professional. It offers some interesting insights related to the question and my (future) answer but is by no means necessary to include to get my points across.

Would it be appropriate to include a link/reference to this professional's Linkedin page? If so; what is the best way to do it?

  • full blown link? (seems inappropriate)
  • picture of pertinent 'insights'? (likely to reveal identity anyways)
  • general discussion of 'insights' i.e. no direct quotes/pictures (smart user could still likely find their Linkedin page, but then again, I already did)
  • reddit like factual statement with no source what-so-ever? (why should you believe me w/o source?)

I should state that I do not know this individual at all, just stumbled upon their page during my research.

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If you reference it at all, you should absolutely include a link to it. You have to credit the source of the information. Is the professional a public figure? If so, I see no issue with posting information they've chosen to make public.

If it's not a public figure, it is trickier. I'd say it depends on what kind of detail you're sharing. Is the topic something that's going to bring them unwanted attention? Then I'd avoid using the reference at all. Otherwise, I think you're probably ok. I think the biggest risk would be if they have public contact info listed, someone might try to spam them anyway, but they've already accepted that risk by posting contact info publicly.

Of course, if there's another way you can get this info without relying on someone's LinkedIn page, that'd be preferable, but I'm assuming you've done your due diligence to try to find another source and have come up short.

One more caveat: I've been assuming you're using public info on the LinkedIn page, but if this is someone you happen to have a connection with and the info you're sharing is not public, then you should absolutely not make that public without their consent.

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    $\begingroup$ Re: caveat, I am not connected with this person. The Linkedin profile and the info can be viewed without a Linkedin account $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 9, 2021 at 15:56
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    $\begingroup$ @BrendanLuke15 I thought so, but figured it was worth mentioning. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 9, 2021 at 15:57
  • $\begingroup$ I have decided to not use the information for my answer. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 9, 2021 at 22:43

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