How to find contacts to network with?

Are more people hiding their LinkedIn Contacts, and does this make LinkedIn less useful?

• Is it just me, or do other people find it rude and counterproductive to get a LinkedIn invite and accept it, only to find that the other person does not allow browsing of contacts? Isn't the point of LinkedIn to broaden the potential reach of your own contacts by seeing who your friends and associates know? If not, where is the social in this social network?

• Answer:

  When people say "isn't the point of LinkedIn" I'm sorry but I usually assume they are missing the point of business Networking. You see whatever LinkedIn is to the company themselves and their shareholders (starts and ends with money, but there's other related things in there), the value to people that comes from being involved in a social community... is people, and their relationships with each other. Therefore it is what you do that matters, not other people. Remember to take it offline, pursue real, in person relationships, come from a position of wanting to help others, authentically, and connect others with each other proactively. LinkedIn is a fantastic resource for people to research, create opportunity and present themselves in the way they want to be seen. Start with that. What other people choose to do on the platform you'll see is largely irrelevant and you'll be so busy building exactly the type of network and relationships you want to, none of that rubbish will bother you anymore.