Not every social network has to be the same. That's OK. LinkedIn is the professional network, the alternative to swapping business cards (remember those?). It'

Not every social network has to be the same. That's OK. LinkedIn is the professional network, the alternative to swapping business cards (remember those?). It's where you can add that one person you met at a conference so you remember their name and company if needed, or your colleagues. Would you rather add them to your real social network? Personally, I add everyone on LinkedIn and nobody except close friends and family to my real social network. Working as intended. LinkedIn is also approximately the only place in the world that I know of that you can go to and actually contact someone, when you only know their name. You can't find people's numbers (and nobody wants to call or be called anyway), there's no way to find their email, so unless you're already in their social circle there's nothing else except LinkedIn to reach out with.