The cost of social networking
June 11, 2008 – 9:18 am by Griffin HammondWhen I joined Facebook, it was still thefacebook.com, so I’ve used it long enough to become completely enamored by everything it has evolved into. So until now, I never bothered to explore the rest of the social networking realm. This week, to broaden my social media horizons, I joined two sites: LinkedIn and Plaxo (thanks to Kyle for telling me about Plaxo). Both sites introduced me to an entirely new concept: PAYING for social networking.
Imagine if one day MySpace users logged in and were forced to enter their credit card info to continue. There’d be a riot! Why then, would anyone spend money to network with friends online?
Perhaps it’s the target demographics. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn and Plaxo are both for networking in the business sense. So while anything young and fun online must be free, if used for a business purpose, I suppose professionals would have no problem writing it off as a business expense. Or maybe it’s because LinkedIn and Plaxo are free of advertisements, unlike Facebook. But THAT’S NOT TRUE! They both have banner ads. So what then, are users paying for?
On LinkedIn, I have a “Personal” account, which is free and includes 5 “Introductions” at a time. These let you ask a mutual friend to introduce you to one of their business contacts. In real life, introductions are free and unlimited, but in LinkedIn, you can only meet 5 people at a time. (Once they respond, you get your Introductions back.) You can’t otherwise contact people you don’t know unless you use an “InMail.” My free account includes zero InMails, but if I want I can buy them. In real life, mail costs 42 cents. In LinkedIn, InMail costs TEN DOLLARS. PER MESSAGE.
So if I plan to use LinkedIn for any real business networking, I need to upgrade my account. Here are my options:
- “Business” for $20/month, includes 5 Introductions at a time (the same number I have in the free account), 3 InMails/month, and 100 search results per search (I guess my current, free search abilities are inhibited.)
- “Business Plus” costs $50/month and gets you 15 Introductions at a time, 10 InMails/month, and 150 search results.
- By far the most economical, “Pro” is only $200/month, with 40 Introductions, 50 InMails, and 200 search results. So for only the cost of 2 unlimited cell phone plans, you can chat with people online!
When I joined LinkedIn, I assumed it was a valuable networking tool for business people. After reading about these price plans, though, it’s a joke! You’re telling me I get no money for providing my personal information, but you use me to get money from other users?! LinkedIn is pimping out their users and raking in outrageous monthly fees!
Plaxo, by contrast, is not nearly as expensive. Plaxo, which was recently purchased by Comcast, is mostly an online organizer/storage tool for all of your contacts. The free version allows you to do everything you would expect in a social network, including free messaging (even to people you don’t know), but for $50/year you can add these premium features:
- Syncing of contacts with Smartphone
- Removes duplicate address book/calendar entires
- Automated backup/recovery of contacts
- Unlimited Premium eCards
- “VIP” customer service/live remote assistance
- Store over 1,000 contacts
All features I could live without, but at least the pay version is only about $4/month, unlike LinkedIn. And unlike the free version of LinkedIn, the free version of Plaxo remains useable.
Sure, there may be sites getting away with charging for social networking, but I think logic and common sense dictate that the future of successful social networking won’t cost us.
