Oh look, it’s Sally Johnson’s 15th year anniversary at ABC Inc. Thanks for the spam, LinkedIn.

But wait. Before you tap the delete key, consider that there may actually be some value to the anniversary alert. It’s LinkedIn’s way of cycling your 500+ connections across your radar at a digestible pace throughout the year. Not that you would actually congratulate Sally or bake her a cake or anything, but you might send her this message:

"Hi Sally, I spotted your name on LinkedIn today and it reminded me that we haven’t spoken in a while. Let’s get a cup of coffee and catch up.”

There is no need to mention the non-event of her work anniversary. But if the anniversary alert prompts you to rekindle a few of the relationships you have parked on the world’s largest professional network, then it’s as good a reminder as any.