[Aloisius]

I'm actually partially responsible for this. I actually designed that product at LinkedIn.

There are some people who need to stay anonymous for various reasons including lawyers, M&A people, etc. The setting for how you show up in other people's who viewed your profile is controlled by the individual user. It is a privacy thing.

The messaging when upgrading used to be much more clear - you would get to see more people who viewed you as opposed to just the last few - not de-anonymize people. They seem to have made it more ambiguous since I left.

[sagivo]

if you can't tell me who, don't tell me at all! it's a waste of time, effort and bad experience.

[chris_wot]

I don't understand: what legitimate reasons do they for being anonymous?

[throwaway800]

I have the "anonymous" mode enabled on Linkedin. I do this for the same reason I am using a throwaway HN account, and - if I may presume - for the same reason you didn't put full name in your HN profile:

When I'm casually browsing around I don't want to think and worry about what the reaction might be to my name popping up everywhere.

[ndesaulniers]

There's always an upsell.

Someone viewed your profile. Pay to see who.

You show up when you view others' profile. Pay not to.

Someone viewed your profile, but pays to not be visible. Out bid them to see their profile. Pay to actually see who.

You pay not to show up when you view others' profiles, but they pay to still see you. Pay more?

Do you see how this seems deceitful?