At least for basic accounts on Linkedin, you can no longer be completely anonymous in viewing profiles of others. What are the implications of this and is this too much openness for the network’s users?

This is what I saw when I tried to view who had looked at my profile:

As you can see, there are only 2 options instead of three for how you want to set up yourself in other peoples’ stats.Hmm.

I went further into the process, and arrived at the following screen:

Suddenly I had three options again, and I thought “Yes! I can be completely anonymous again!” Upon closer inspection, though, I noticed that it said “Note: Selecting this option will stop recording visits to your profile and disable Profile Stats.” Hmm.

I decided to choose the middle option, which displays generic information to users whose profiles I’ve viewed, but the fine print under that option read: “Note: Selecting this option will disable Profile Stats.“

So, if I want to see my own profile stats, I can’t have ANY anonymity within where I go on Linkedin anymore. I have some initial thoughts on this, but want to play around with it more before I form a complete opinion. Right off the bat, though, I know this will hurt recruiters. It will also hurt people who are browsing for jobs while still employed, as it becomes a lot more obvious to others what that person is doing. Not everyone behaves with discretion, and will keep information like that private (as in, not posted on your Wall, feed, etc.). This is an enormous concern, and I foresee this changing the way people use Linkedin for their professional networks.

A year or so ago, Linkedin was really pushing to limit features in order to increase paid subscriptions and it appears they’re back at again in full force with one of their best features (in my opinion).

What are your thoughts?