Coincidence or creepy?

[HumanBurrito]

I am a senior professional in my mid 50s. I recently (last six months or so) had to set up a LinkedIn account and have around 50 or so contacts, all in my industry. A couple of days ago I saw one visitor to my page was a guy I was at school with. He is in a completely different industry and we have no reason to have overlapping contacts. We were good friends back in the early 90s but it's been decades since we were in touch. No shared social media contacts otherwise. Would LinkedIn have put my profile his way or has he been creepily checking my name for years and just got lucky now I have joined?

Curiosity I'd imagine. There's a chance he might have had a crush on you back in the day. It's apparently quite common now for some men to try and chat women up via linkedin. Primarily because their partners are less likely to think anything suspicious would happen over a 'professional' network.
These things happen all the time. Just ignore it. Or don't if you wouldn't mind reconnecting?

I’m sure he’s just looking up people from school. I’m only a bit younger than you and I do it all the time. It’s just being nosy is all.

I was on LinkedIn for around a month at your age, and in that time my ex fiance and 2 ex boyfriends contacted me. Hadn't heard from any of them in years up to that point. I think previous posters are right, it's just people being nosey.

Curiosity, not creepy, would be my thought.

Unless he's sent you some weird message or you found him creepy way back when, it's completely normal that school friends, and even those you weren't friends with, seek you out on social media. Natural curiosity to find out who is doing what years down the line.

He's probably heard your name in some context and thought "What does she do again?" and looked you up. It's what people use LinkedIn for, mostly.

Every blue moon I have a Google to see how old school pals are doing. It's idle curiosity.

Obviously the algorithm has put two and two together. You were at school together, youve recently joined so you’ll have come up as someone he may know as someone he knows is connected to you etc (does his profile say 2nd or 3rd next to it?). He’s then clicked on you. That’s how social media works.

Totally normal

Once you're on SM this is par the course

Thanks all. My question was more about the timing of the search than searching for old school friends per se. I honestly don't think LinkedIn could have put us together, we have no-one in common on there and live in different countries, but I guess it works in mysterious ways. The algorithm is the creepy bit. Definitely not getting back in touch! he has not aged well

What a weird thought! He was probably curious and looked you up- why do you think he's been obsessively looking you up?

If you have any info on your profile- hometown, school, any kind of link to how you both know each other, it'll suggest you to each other at some point.

I haven't thought about him in thirty years and his name popped up. I think it is more likely LinkedIn being creepy, I just can't see how, I have the strict minimum of data on there, certainly not my school and no-one I know from before ten years or so ago in my current industry.

Probably this. Or, if you both included your schools in your bio information, even if it isn’t displayed, LinkedIn algos will try to match you with people you might have a connection with and he got shown your profile.

It wouldn’t occur to me to find it “creepy” that somebody from my past might have looked me up tbh. It’s the entire purpose of being on social media and networking sites, isn’t it?

I agree looking people up per se isn't creepy. It was more the timing of it, 30-odd years after we last had any contact and not long after I joined a platform I have kept small and posted on once, that raised an eyebrow. But not a big deal either way.

I do understand how odd it seems, to be spotted so quickly on LinkedIn. I had the same thoughts when it happened to me. We'll probably never know if it was down to algorithms, frequency of being Googled or just unlucky timing.

Trust your guts.
This is definitely creepy. Block him just in case.