[mwest217]

I have lots of coworkers for whom I don't have personal contact information. It's very common to just use work email or work phones.

[tpmx]

Linkedin is a hellscape but it has its usefulness once in a blue moon.

[tdeck]

When I worked at Google a lot of people didn't have LinkedIn. I guess because they'd been there so long and expected to stay for life.

[twelve40]

funny enough, it's probably the least hellscape of a social network by now. At worst it's just a bit spammy and dull, all others are dumpster fires by now

[midoridensha]

LinkedIn is great; I really don't see the problem with it.

1. It has your resume posted for recruiters to see. You get emails from recruiters scouting you for jobs you might never have found on your own. Many recruiters are useless 3rd-party recruiters, but some are useful 1st-party recruiters.

2. You can keep in contact with your old coworkers; people you aren't close enough to have as friends through some other venue.

3. It doesn't actively spread conspiracy theories and destroy society. You get some recruiter spam, and that's it. The site is nothing more than a tool to aid your professional life and career, and it doesn't try to be anything more than that.

What's the problem, exactly?

[jjav]

This is where LinkedIn shines. I try to connect there with everyone I work with and have been doing so since 2004. Build a great network, keep in touch with people I appreciate as coworkers and hopefully future referrals.