Our survey reveals attitudes toward LinkedInTM Profile images
Last month Stonelock Photography sponsored a survey, conducted among attendees at the We Mean Business Expo in Croydon (UK). The results showed that three quarters of respondents are not following best practice social media recommendations when it comes to their LinkedIn profile image.
Remarkably 42% had never refreshed their profile photo and 10% never bothered to upload one at all. This is despite statistics from LinkedIn that profiles with a picture are browsed 14 times more than those without one. Our own survey indicated that 1 in 4 business professionals are more likely to revisit someone’s profile when their profile photo is updated.
While the majority of business professionals are displaying a head and shoulders portrait on their LinkedIn profile with which they are completely satisfied, a further 42% are less than completely satisfied, yet have not updated their profile photo.
8 Key Statistics from the Survey
- The majority of business professionals (83%) use a head and shoulders portrait as their LinkedIn profile image.
- Most (56%) believe that their LinkedIn profile photo principally conveys their professional persona.
- Two thirds of respondents take a profile photo into account when deciding whether to connect on LinkedIn.
- 1 in 4 business professionals are more likely to look at someone’s profile again when their profile picture is updated.
- 10% of respondents don’t ever bother to upload a LinkedIn profile image.
- 42% have never refreshed their original profile photo.
- The most cited reason for changing a profile picture was ‘whenever I feel like it’ indicating no strategy behind the update at all.
- Only one quarter of respondents had ever reviewed recommendations from LinkedIn or other social media experts on how to improve their profile picture.
A study by researchers in the Department of Psychology at the University of York indicate that first impressions of social traits, such as trustworthiness or dominance, are reliably perceived in faces, and despite their questionable validity they can have considerable real-world consequences. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), shows how specific images of faces can create favourable or unfavourable first impressions.
In business first impressions count, so making your social profile visually appealing is crucial. At Stonelock Photography we advise that business professionals take the same care over their demeanour and appearance on business networking sites, as when attending real life networking events. If you only get one chance to make a lasting impression, make it count.