I don't see the harm in it, as long as your LinkedIn profile is up to date and well crafted.
The only time I would hesitate is if your page doesn't look up to scratch on LinkedIn, or needs some updating.
Otherwise it is good to add people that you have had professional connections with in real life, as it shows you are social media savvy and proactive in making networking connections. I really can't see a negative here...
If I just had a conversation with a recruiter should I invite them to be a LinkedIn contact? I would think that 's actually a pretty good idea. And the reason why is that on LinkedIn you can represent all your skills and all your accomplishments including recommendations that you have from previous employers or coworkers. So showing a recruiter your LinkedIn information can actually create value for you. In addition, if you want to reach out to that recruiter again you have now created a little bit more of a formal relationship with that recruiter. So that's another value added being connected to them.
And further, through LinkedIn, you are to see connections of a connection. A recruiter in your industry is going to have some great connections to other people and so making them a contact in your LinkedIn is always valuable. To make that LinkedIn connection with them you can simply send them a LinkedIn note when you ask them to join your network to say, "Dear such in such, I really enjoyed speaking with you today and hope to speak with you soon in the near future and that we can connect through LinkedIn as well. Best, my name."
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