This is likely why LinkedIn is so non-focused on one workflow. Everyone wants something different.

In my case, I don't want to hear anything about what people are up to. I don't want articles, or other such stuff. I don't want to be messaged.

For me, I just want a work history validation mechanism, and a way for legit job offers to appear.

The perfect linkedin for me, would be a way to link to work contacts without ever talking to them. Once linked (eg, when people allow it), I could get contact info if a person has it setup. That is, an email address or similar.

Again, the platform would have zero communication on it, so if you want to talk, then take that email, and email the person!

Outside of that, I want nothing. No communication, news, etc.

This sounds amazing.

Those are people-problems, not platform-problems. A NewLinkedIn will converge to the state of the current LinkedIn as it grows over time.

For me, I can get all I want from LinkedIn (recruiter messages, contact lists, search for people/companies) and remove everything else from sight just by adding a few rules on uBlock Origin and making sure communication preferences are set to only incoming messages and nothing else. I don't see any feeds, I don't get engagement emails, and I don't have the app on phone.

I set communication settings to let only people who know me (ie are in my contact list) to contact me (Settings -> Communications -> Who can reach you). The contact list is culled mercilessly once a year (eg. recruiters who specialize in jobs no longer relevant to me are removed). The Email settings in the Communications section are also quite detailed and there are a bunch of preferences you can choose from; I don't get any emails from Linkedin except inmails.

LinkedIn is my only social network (HN doesn't count IMO), and unfortunately I can't get rid of it without impacting my career, so I have incentive to bend it to my requirements. It thankfully isn't too difficult.

Another charming linkedIn feature: Did you say you wanted no mails from us? Well we're sure that was just a temporary thing, surely you don't mean that NOW, so we've re-enabled daily digests for you!

Yup. I get dozens of linkedin messages to my spambox every week. I tried turning them off a handful of times but the spam filter works great.

You're getting noticed

> All I want from the "new improved LinkedIn" is a way to maintain my network of past co-workers and people I have dealt with in a professional capacity and stay in touch. I'm delighted to read about job changes, promotions and any work related awards, accomplishments, links to published articles.

HEAR HEAR.

I just want to know about what others are up to professionally.

>Randoms contacting me to add to their network. i.e. people I've never met, nor worked with.

But how do you curate this in anything resembling an automated fashion? I suppose you might add a box for the requestor to the effect of "how do you know this person" ... but that's way too easy to game

Yep this for me too. One other thing I'd like is to be able to see who the HM is for a role so I can contact directly instead of sending my application to a black hole. I would like to think this has the benefit of filtering out generalized hiring loops.

That’s going to be hard to do. Recruiters will simply post it for HM.

I know and HMs use recruiters as filters which is a total waste of time.