Well, one use is you can access the contacts of your contacts, so it helps you get information about (and get in contact with) a lot of people...
But I agree it seems weird to add 50 'strangers' to your list... We don't know anything about each other really.
EDIT: Although I have seen a few people do it on LinkedIn already, they post message in groups and tell people that they want everyone to add them. They gather thousands of contacts that way, I wonder if it does them any good tho.
I think this technique is bullshit. I have a few people on LinkedIn that I don't know very well. When I find that I can a connection-of-a-connection through them, it's a big groaner. Because I know that I can't use them for a recommendation and be like: "Yeah, we shoke hands once at a tech meetup."
My current policy on LinkedIn is only link to people to whom I could give a warm referral or expect one in return.
But I agree it seems weird to add 50 'strangers' to your list... We don't know anything about each other really.
EDIT: Although I have seen a few people do it on LinkedIn already, they post message in groups and tell people that they want everyone to add them. They gather thousands of contacts that way, I wonder if it does them any good tho.