What is the Advantage of Gaining 500+ Connections on LinkedIn?

In theory it may seem having a high number of LinkedIn contacts gives you an edge and makes you credible and is viewed as a sort of status symbol. But having 500+ connections has become a bit diluted since most people connect with just anyone, and I’m sure LinkedIn will raise this number to 1K or 5K in the coming years.

Gaining many contacts is advantageous if you set it up to be so. But’s not really about the number of connections you can count, it’s about how many connections you can count on. You could reach 5 million and have it mean nothing. You need to focus on the value of each person you’re connecting with, and the benefits you can afford each other. You shouldn’t build your number of contacts just for the sake of doing so. To be honest, this is really just a waste of everyone’s time.

Think of it this way – would you rather have 4 quarters, or 100 pennies? Meaning would you prefer to concentrate on building a deep relationship with 4 valuable contacts who will be highly beneficial to your life, or should you have 100 connections that you know on a superficial level?

LinkedIn is a great professional networking tool. But that’s what it is – a tool. And it’s how you use the tool that will result in the advantages you get from it.

This post originally appeared on Quora