[papad]

This makes total sense. I have also been very careful to not let LinkedIn get access to my email or contacts - precisely cause I don't trust what they will do with that data on my behalf. But they still manage to suggest all these random contacts that look like they're coming from my address book. A few times I have panicked and made sure I hadn't accidentally given them access. But it makes sense that the other side gave them access and they are trying to get a match.

I do like LinkedIn as a professional network. It's helpful when going into meetings, I can check out the people's backgrounds and use that as added context / something to relate with. It's helpful when trying to figure out whether someone could be a good sales/biz dev opportunity based on their background and experience. If I trusted them more, I may consider integrating them more tightly with some of my sales funnel workflows - but for now, I will continue using them as a standalone tool.

[danielweber]

LinkedIn had a dark pattern, which they've made slightly less dark recently, of asking you to "log in" by typing in your email address and then your email address password. Of course, you are already logged in to LinkedIn at that point.

The current version shows up when you click "Add Connections" but it used to be much more in-your-face.