Has your list of followers on LinkedIn changed? If so, it’s because LinkedIn said it is now removing “hibernated” and “restricted” accounts from the connection and follower counts of all members and will continue to regularly do so heading forward.

New Help documentation. LinkedIn has added new Restricted and hibernated account filtering Help documentation. It explains:

“In order to better support LinkedIn members and contributors with more reliable engagement and reach insights, restricted and hibernated accounts will no longer be included in the total number of followers and connections listed on a member’s profile.”

The impact. It depends. Some accounts may see more of an impact on their counts. LinkedIn noted some factors are:

• How long an account has been active.
• How many connections and followers a member has.
• Places where members have worked or studied.

Account type explainer. So what exactly are these two types of accounts LinkedIn is filtering?

• Hibernated accounts: A member has deactivated an account for a certain period of time.
• Restricted accounts: A member has violated either LinkedIn’s Professional Community Policies or its User Agreement.

What happens if restricted or hibernated accounts become active. “They will be re-included in the follower and connection counts they were previously a part of. For members that reach the 30,000 connection limit, if accounts become unrestricted they will not be re-added to their audience lists unless they remove current connections,” LinkedIn explained.

Why we care. Ultimately, connection and follower counts are a vanity metric. But filtering out inactive accounts could potentially help LinkedIn users who have already reached their 30,000 connection limit, allowing them to connect with active users and potentially earn more engagement and visibility.