I deleted my account fifteen or so years back, and it's worked out fine. I talk with friends to see if they've heard about anything interesting, and I look around for companies working on whatever it is I think I might like to do next, then try to get in touch. It's never taken more than a couple of months to find something.

Over the past few years it has become more important to many recruiters. The idea that your network is your net worth is unfortunately a common belief.

linkedin is still the defacto way to quickly check if a candidate is being truthful about their employment history.

If they don't list the companies they claim to have worked at or have no connections to them its a red flag.