Those things are just the neurotransmitters spewed by people who are becoming analogues to neurons. (Not aware of why they are filtering and passing on signals, but somehow performing some kind of decision making in aggregate.)

Couldn't have been said better - I mean, even a small, less than half-way competent team could easily build something providing a (much) better UX as compared to the LinkedIn forums.

So you can tell them in person that you don't live in the same country or work in even vaguely the same area rather than ignoring them as you do now?

As opposed to using the superior Hangouts product? That's gonna suck.

To make that happen they'll have to put up even more barriers to messaging people out-of-band. Much like Upwork/etc.

You can do this... today! Without spending $26bn.