Paid vs Free Networking Sites

432 Words2 Pages
After reviewing networking sites that are free to join and networking sites that charge a membership fee, I feel that they both offer very similar benefits. They both offer a way to connect with other people and build a network of contacts that can help further your career by providing new knowledge and granting access to resources which otherwise may not have been available. Both free and paid sites also offer the option to search for careers and available job openings within a career field of choice. I think the paid networking sites offer advantages and benefits that free sites can’t. One of the benefits of becoming a member of a paid networking site, such as the Association of Information Technology (IT) Professionals, is that the site is comprised of members who are in the same career field and have the same interests. It is a community created specifically for IT professionals so you don’t have to waste any time searching through the site looking for contacts within the same career area. Another advantage I see to paid networking sites is that they offer product and service discounts for members. Unfortunately, you have to be a member to view what product and service discounts they offer so I’m not sure how valuable they would be. The last advantage I want to mention is that I don’t think you would have to worry about spam accounts/contacts on a paid site. On a free site such as LinkedIn, which has over 175 million users, I feel there could be uncertainty of whether or not a contact request you may receive is legitimate. I think the cost of a paid membership would be worth it for this reason alone not to mention the other benefits I discussed. Ultimately, I think the only bad choice you can make when deciding whether to sign up for a free or paid networking site is if you decide to not sign up for either. You can only benefit from making business contacts
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