Find a LinkedIn Group

Prior to 2007 LinkedIn groups were closely managed by LinkedIn. Approval could take many weesk or months. There were only about 3,000 groups. Then in Spring 2007 LinkedIn launched its DIY (Do It Yourself) self-serve Create a Group feature. The number of groups has zoomed to 60,000.

They come in many flavors - virtual groups, business groups, networking groups, school and company alumni, conferences and events, and organizations of all kinds.

Groups may be:

• Closed (require certain qualifications for acceptance) or open (anyone can join)
• Public (any LinkedIn member will see the group icon) or private (only other groups members can see it)
• Free, pay, and grandfathered.

A few paying or grandfathered groups may be publicly listed in the LinkedIn group directory. But that's only a tiny fraction of all groups.

LinkedIn philosophy

LinkedIn doesn't give a group to anyone. Groups must be an existing, typically real world, organization. In exchange for getting a group, group owners must promote the LinkedIn group to its members.

LinkedIn recognizes that making a group public represents free marketing to the group, and so only allows public groups for a substantial fee. As a result, most groups are private. They are not listed in the LinkedIn directory and other members won't know about the group. The group is responsible for doing its own marketing - posting the LinkedIn URL on its web site, in its email, etc. to promote it to its members and others.

Find a Group

Because of LinkedIn's philosophy, there is no central location to locate LinkedIn Groups and their administrators or joining URLs. A few suggestions on finding a LinkedIn group follow. Note that some groups are restricted. You may need to be a dues-paying member or alumni.

• The largest and most powerful LinkedIn Group Directory is MyLinkGroups at http://MyLinkGroups.com .
• If you're currently a member of a real world group, contact the group directly.
• If you're new to the group, visit the group's web site and search for any sign of LinkedIn life. Contact a group official if you can't find a LinkedIn reference.
• Check other online group hangouts, such as Yahoo or other discussion lists
• Contact a LinkedIn group member. If the group pays a fee or was grandfathered, the group logo will be displayed in searches, identifying its members. If the group is not publicized, contact a few likely group members via LinkedIn.
• Run a general web search for the LinkedIn group. For example searching for "DallasBlue" and "LinkedIn group" brings up the LinkedIn group URL as the first result.

Join a Group

Each group has an associated membership URL, which generally looks like this (feel free to join!):

In some cases there may be a vanity address like the one that follows that goes to the same location:

Apply to a Group