The biggest change in the way Groups work is coming on LinkedIn and soon groups will be categorized into two. To decide how you contribute to them in the future its important to know how they will differ in future.
The main differences between Standard and Unlisted Groups are the discoverability of the group and the ability of group members to invite their 1st degree connections to join. Standard Groups can be found by any member. Unlisted Groups are not searchable by any search engine and only the owner can invite others to join.
In Standard Groups:
- You must be a LinkedIn member to join.
- Conversations won’t show up in search engine results.
- Only group members can post conversations.
- Group members can invite their 1st degree connections to join.
- Conversations and comments are visible to group members only.
- The group owner has the option to make the group unlisted only when the group is created.
- Group members can approve requests to join.
In Unlisted Groups:
- There’s a Padlock icon next to the group name.
- You must be a LinkedIn member to join.
- Members of a group cannot display the group on their profile, to members who don’t belong to that group.
- The group isn’t searchable by any search engine.
- Members can join an Unlisted Group by invitation from the group owner or manager, or by requesting to join from an invite link sent to them.