Because it's being assumed that if you don't have LinkedIn then you are not a suitable candidate to hire, sometimes in pre-screening they explicitly ask to provide it, or get screened out. So when you make something like that a de facto requirement to get a job, or at least to be considered, then people will complain about it. Per your analogy, it's like I have to have a mandatory strip club membership to be considered for xyz.
My issue with LinkedIn goes beyond the cringeworthy content. It's the best platform to stalk people and collect any info using OSINT. Unlike other platforms where you can have some nicknames etc., you are most likely to have legit info in there. I wouldn't be surprised later if digital ID in smartphones will be required to update/sign up there, "to make sure we fight fake accounts!!"
> It's the best platform to stalk people and collect any info using OSINT.
It's the main platform of interest if you ever talk to data brokers just because of the richness of personal information, employment history, and social network (connections) information present there. Microsoft is sitting on a goldmine of personally-identifiable information, and the platform is aggressively scraped every millisecond for new data.
My issue with LinkedIn goes beyond the cringeworthy content. It's the best platform to stalk people and collect any info using OSINT. Unlike other platforms where you can have some nicknames etc., you are most likely to have legit info in there. I wouldn't be surprised later if digital ID in smartphones will be required to update/sign up there, "to make sure we fight fake accounts!!"