Understand LinkedIn's first-, second- and third-degree connections, how introduction paths work, and what Sixgree can show from the network data you have.
First-degree connections are people you're directly connected to. Second-degree connections are connected to your direct connections. Third-degree connections are connected to your second-degree connections. The degree describes distance in a connection network, not how well you know someone or whether they'll introduce you.
LinkedIn's definitions of connection degrees are the starting point. Sixgree helps you explore the paths in the network data available on your computer. Those two views serve different purposes: LinkedIn supplies its labels; Sixgree makes the routes it has observed easier to inspect.
Think of a first-degree connection as one recorded step from you to another person. A connection invitation has been accepted. That says something about the network, but little about the relationship.
A former teammate, a recent conference contact and someone you barely remember may all carry the same first-degree label. Before asking for help, consider your actual relationship and when you last spoke.
Following is different. Following someone's posts does not, by itself, make them a direct connection. LinkedIn explains that distinction in its follow and connect guide.
A second-degree person sits one connection beyond someone you know: you → a direct connection → them.
That middle person is a possible bridge. There may be several bridges to the same person, which gives you a choice. The best person to ask is not automatically the most senior or the one with the largest circle. They need enough context to feel comfortable making the introduction.
Suppose an invented colleague knows an invented product leader you'd like to meet. You have a possible route. You don't yet know whether they work together, have spoken recently or would welcome your request. A connection map cannot answer those human questions on its own.
A third-degree route adds one more connection: you → someone you know → someone they know → the person you want to meet.
It is harder to act on because another person must understand and support the request. Rather than forwarding a vague request through a chain, start with the person you know. Explain who you'd like to meet and why, then ask whether they can suggest a sensible next step.
| Degree | Connection distance | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| First | One step from you | That you know each other well. |
| Second | Through a direct connection | That the bridge will introduce you. |
| Third | Through a second-degree connection | That every link is active or willing. |
Degrees count steps. They do not count trust.
A profile's degree badge tells you a connection category. It doesn't tell you which route fits your purpose, whether a mutual connection remembers the person, or whether the information is current.
There are two separate questions:
Sixgree helps with the first. You still decide the second.
With an official Connections.csv, you can explore your direct connections. The file does not contain their connection lists, so it cannot establish second- or third-degree routes. The CSV visualization guide walks through that starting point.
With circle data collected by the optional scanner, Sixgree can show people beyond your direct connections and the connections through whom they were found. Separation lets you inspect those people and their ways in. A connection's card can show their exclusive reach: people found only through that connection among the circles you've mapped.
The app also supports exploring longer chains when the recorded links exist. It does not invent a chain to fill an empty degree. A missing route can mean missing data, not that the two people are disconnected on LinkedIn.
This is why a route in Sixgree may differ from a LinkedIn badge: the app only knows the graph you've collected. Its shortest observed path is not proof of the shortest path across LinkedIn's whole network.
Start with the invented sample to explore these ideas without accessing your LinkedIn account. Scanning is optional and can put an account at risk; read how scanning works before choosing it.
Once you've found a possible bridge, make it easy for them to judge the request:
An illustrative request could be: “I'm researching how teams handle product onboarding. Do you know this person well enough to ask whether they'd be open to a short conversation? No problem if not.”
If you have several ways in, compare your relationships with the bridges rather than treating a score as the answer. Who can introduce you? explains the app's ways-in and exclusive-reach calculations in more detail.
No. The name refers to the idea of short chains between people. It is not a promise that your local map contains everyone, that six steps always suffice, or that every path can become an introduction.
The useful question is smaller: what routes can I see, and which one would be reasonable to ask about?
Download Sixgree to explore the sample first. Your own network stays on your computer, with no Sixgree account or cloud upload. For the boundaries, read the privacy guide.
Sixgree is not affiliated with LinkedIn.
Download your LinkedIn connections as a CSV from LinkedIn's own settings, on Mac, Windows or iPhone, what the file contains and what it leaves out, and how to see the people in it as a map with tiers.
Plainly, automated scanning is against LinkedIn's User Agreement. Here's what the risk looks like in practice (warnings and temporary holds, not bans, in every case we've recorded), what to do after a warning, and how Sixgree paces itself.
The full design history of Sixgree, with pictures: from Next.js's default favicon to a gold S that reads as a 6, every wordmark we drew, the name change, the tier palettes in each look, and the design rules behind them.
