Can You Reply To Connection Requests Before Accepting?

Did you know that you can reply to connection requests before accepting? However, this may not always be the case. Ger shares that the feature was recently removed for him in the Netherlands, which may be a harbinger of things to come in the States.

Why would you reply to someone before accepting their connection request?

There are two mindsets on accepting invites.

Some people want to be more intentional with their network (and limit messaging spam) so they want to vet people before letting them into their network (ie, accepting a connection request). You can vet them before accepting by replying to connection requests before accepting.

Other people are more loose with who they let into their network (often referred to as a LION – Linkedin Open networker) because it builds their following and the opportunity that having a smaller out of network count provides.