For most people, the Linkedin experience starts with the excitement of possibility and the line-goes-up endorphin buzz of increasing connections. After a while, it becomes clear that a Linkedin account requires management to filter push notifications and other spam. Finally, the basic physics of business networking replace imagined possibility.
Business networking is Serious work, Real work, Hard work. Linkedin facilitates that work, but about the best likely outcome of passive use is recruiter contact but there’s a big pile of tailings for any nugget…and there’s no guarantee of nuggets.
So is there an alternative? Existentially, No. Networking is work. You can work on Linkedin. You can work face to face. You can work on another platform. But there’s no substitute for work. Good luck.