Ask Slashdot: Is LinkedIn Still Relevant?

LinkedIn had 590 million members -- though back in 2016 Microsoft conceded that less than 25% of the service's members were active. Yet CNBC recently shared estimates that 95% of recruiters are using LinkedIn to find candidates, and touted a new tool called 'LinkedIn Hashtags' which lets companies highlight policies like '#dogfriendly' or '#freelunch'.
But is LinkedIn really helpful for job-seekers? An anonymous Slashdot reader writes:

I'm on unemployment and am looking for a new job, and I've been told 'Oh, you need to be on LinkedIn if you want to be taken seriously!'
So I go there, and it looks like Facebook or something, wants to scrape my email contacts, upload pictures, and so on.

Is LinkedIn really necessary, or is it just a ruse to get me to give them all sorts of personal information like all other social media sites?

'I'm also unemployed and looking for a job,' adds another anonymous Slashdot reader, 'and have all my crap on Linkedin and Indeed, and have been using them to apply left and right. If they aren't useful anymore I'm essentially sitting on my hands doing nothing.'
But Slashdot reader tomhath insists that LinkedIn 'was never relevant. Their motto was that you didn't exist if you're not there -- but that was only their marketing hype, not reality.'

Leave your own thoughts in the comments. Is LinkedIn still relevant?

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