LinkedIn helps me keep in touch with people that I worked with at past jobs. Yes you can swap emails/phone numbers but emails frequently get buried, people may

LinkedIn helps me keep in touch with people that I worked with at past jobs. Yes you can swap emails/phone numbers but emails frequently get buried, people may change phone numbers as they move, additionally emails don't have any discoverability (eg what is Victor who I worked with 8 years ago doing these days... ohh he is working at company XYZ, that's interesting I am considering applying at company XYZ maybe I can ask him what he thinks of the company from the inside). The recruiter spam is a small price to pay for the incredible professional value that LinkedIn provides for me.