Wide Grip Shrugs for Growth.

Growing the upper portion of your trapezius muscle can greatly contribute to your physique. Barbell shrugs are oftentimes used to train the upper region of the trapezius. But if you make use of a shrugging movement, it makes sense to somewhat widen your grip.
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A basic training rule is that a muscle is maximally stressed during an exercise if the resistance moves directly in line with the muscle fibers. If you swipe left, you can see that the muscle fibers of the upper trapezius run diagonally, not straight up. So having a wider grip on shrugs will improve the strength curve for the upper trap fibers.
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This helps explain why there’s muscle activation research suggesting that the upper traps are more active during wide-grip shrugs vs traditional shrugs [1, 2].  Aim to raise your arms to the side by roughly 30 degrees before gripping the bar.