I'm not really sure who LinkedIn is even for anymore.

It is useless for job searching, because the search tools aren't very good.

It is useless for employers since your job gets shown to thousands of people without the right qualifications and thus massively increases the signal to noise ratio of applications, especially if Easy Apply gets turned on.

LinkedIn is fine, all my old coworkers that I want to connect with are there, and they're mostly normal people. Jobs are listed there, and I've found perfectly fine candidates there.

I don't know where else people are besides Indeed, so that's where we are. It's boring, it does a thing, and people are there.

Linkedin is still a good way to find a job and get recruiters contacts that let you know how the market is doing. But, you need to avoid the timeline at all costs. There should be a plugin that completely blocked this.

LinkedIn is useful as an experience/resume reference and for helping others likewise, but that's basically it.

There are a few (very rare) useful moderated groups (D&D, Data Science, etc.), but omg the main feed is horribly toxic. Just pretend like it's not even there.

I was told by a recruiter that linkedin charges huge fees ($10k+) to recruiters.

Fake? Sure, but enormously profitable ... to microsoft.

So first they get you to supply all of your data, your friend's and colleague's dat, then they want to charge you a monthly fee to be "in"

But wait, there's more! Then comes the fees to actual recruiters.

L/I would be members, do an AI or wiki search for "fool's paradise" and don't forget to check reddit's "linkedin lunatics" for a good laugh.

I got recruited there once. Biggest career mistake of my life.

LinkedIn was hacked. My account was breached. LinkedIn took almost 4 weeks restoring my access to my own account, after requiring numerous proofs of ID, that I'm sure they will store insecurely, forever.

No thanks and GL to anyone that uses LinkedIn, but after that, I just nuked my profile there and will never be a user again.

LinkedIn is the fakest and the most cringiest platform ever created, no matter how I try to be positive and try to engage there, it’s just impossible for me. Also, it’s the number one source of OSINT where you can pretty much know everything you need to know about this person.

It’s certainly the cringiest. But I think it works for marketing yourself or a business. But yes it is tiring seeing the same bland thoughts repeated.

Thanks, Jmsflknr!

Garbage platform, completely polluted by bots, recruiters, and scammers.

It serves no purpose besides being the shittiest rolodex imaginable.

Yeah, LinkedIn always looked fake to me! But maybe they're fake because it's worth it for them.

I always refused to have a LinkedIn account (before the 2010s), and I still don't have one (2025). However, based on other people's experiences, it seems that you miss a lot of opportunities. Applying to jobs manually is a full-time job; maybe being found by a recruiter is easier to get a job?

Do recruiters even check manual applications? I can see that some people do, and as long as the application happens just a few minutes after being posted. For example, for "Who's hiring", if you don't apply immediately, you won't hear back!

Although I don't like it, LinkedIn seems to be very important if you don't want to waste your time. If you had an account 10 or 15 years ago, opportunities might have come knocking. Nowadays? Not very clear with so much noise out there.

So, maybe the fake LinkedIn people know much better than I do.

LinkedIn Is HUGE in The UK. To the point for some jobs ( cough ) if you don't post your work or accomplishments on it, it is not considered work done. Which ends up having a lot of people bragging about themselves. Stealing credit from others, claiming to have done things when they have not. Posting how much they care about current hot or trendy issues or topics ( they don't ). And then reassuring others they have done something with it already.

And it is sort of a negative feedback loop. These people attract the same type of people. And they each like their post and forward it. This endless circles makes the whole network cringe. And it is worst if you are forced to participate in it.

Linkedin is verging on unusable/not fit for purpose...

Example, how can I see job adverts with very very niche requirements in quite unusual roles (one of which I do actually know about eg data 'migration projects for large companies that specialize in peristaltic pumps').

I‘ve seen a job advert for that kind of thing with literally hundreds of applicants. I would be surprised, given the fact that is a niche area that only a handful of companies even operate in, and companies very rarely migrate to new systems, if there are even hundreds of people in the world who have even done something like that! That is terrible for both the recruiter and the applicant. How are you even supposed to demonstrate you have done that kind of thing before in a literal crowd of people?!