Network messaging, follows, and connections

Public discovery vs signed-in social

Anyone can browse /network, /network/companies, /network/products, /network/services, and /network/industries without an account. Messaging, the home feed, follows management, connection requests, favorites, and notifications require sign-in with organization context. Publishing a company page never exposes private thread content.

Private messaging

1. 1

   Open the inbox

   Go to /network/messages for the inbox, then /network/messages/[threadId] for a conversation. Threads support person-to-person, company-to-company, and mixed participants; senders can be person or organization actors. Unread counts cover both identities.

2. 2

   Start from a public profile

   Discover a company on /network/companies or a person on /network/u/[username], then sign in to message. Choose the actor (you vs your organization) that matches the outreach context.

Follows (polymorphic)

• Follow person↔person, person↔organization, organization↔person, or organization↔organization.
• Follower and following counts appear on public person and company profiles when actors are public.
• Manage follows and suggestions under /network/my-network.

Organization connections

Connections are organization-to-organization requests with pending and accepted states. Only owners and admins can send connection requests. Accepted connection counts can appear on public company showcases. Use connections when you want a formal partner link beyond a simple follow.

1. Find the target company via /network/companies or /network/industries.
2. As owner/admin, send a connection request from the signed-in Network UI.
3. Track pending/accepted items and suggestions in /network/my-network.

Notifications and favorites

Signed-in Network notifications live under /network/notifications (for example follows, connection updates, and social activity). Save items you want to revisit under /network/favorites. Neither surface is available to anonymous visitors on the public hub.

Choosing the right actor

• Message as a person for individual outreach; as an organization for company-to-company deals and partner intros.
• Follow as the actor that should own the relationship signal on public counts.
• Only owners/admins can send org connection requests or post as the organization.

Recommended outreach workflow

1. Discover on /network or /network/industries; open the company showcase and catalog items.
2. Follow or send an org connection if you want an ongoing partner signal.
3. Sign in, open /network/messages, and start a thread with the correct actor.
4. Track replies, connection state, and alerts in /network/my-network and /network/notifications.