I've been thinking of re-implementing something like LI, or rather implement my own contact database (without the "FB" features, please).
The only problem would be how to make my contacts migrate over in bulk.
Apart from the bloat, the main problem of Microsoft LinkedIn is that it does not let you export your contacts' infos, which really is a must-have feature of a contact platform.
Platform lock in is certainly intended (even though it sucks for users)
https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=2567673
Summary: https://www.pixelstech.net/article/1395463142-Why-does-Linke...
LinkedIn migrated to Node early 2010.
Here's a write up from the LI engineering blog briefly detailing a history of their architecture (up to 2015): https://engineering.linkedin.com/architecture/brief-history-...
Does LinkedIn have the same features it had a decade ago?
Search is far more powerful. It also shifted to add an entirely new social media dimension to it.
God knows what features were made available to recruiters and marketers.
The hard part of a web app is not the stuff you see; it's the stuff you don't even know is there.
I haven’t tried this on LI but it’s my dirty trick for exporting conference attendee lists when they’re made public on websites. YMMV.