This is nothing new and it is the same with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube Premium and all sorts of other online subscription services. The price is adjusted for the economy of the country.

Linkedin is some real social media BS though, I don't know why anyone would pay for it.

I didn't know it was an option until I saw this thread. Always assumed they made their money through advertising like everybody else in that world. What additional products or services do you get from a subscription?

A lot of mostly BS and spammy features like "unlimited messaging" and access to additional job listings and business information.

It's basically Facebook for the business world, except it thinks it has things that it believes you think are worth paying for due to the business and employment-related nature of it.

I'm not saying it's not useful to anyone... but I can't think of many ways it provides value unless maybe you are a new/small business owner looking to expand your contacts or you just started your own company as a contractor and are looking to maybe find contacts quickly. *shrugs*

Like facebook, you can be “befriended” by people you haven’t seen for years...and after a few exchanges realise why you never bothered to keep in touch.

I would also agree it's not worth paying for the extras, but that doesn't mean everyone else out there would agree with us.

Haha, true.

Some people enjoy checking how many views their profile managed to score lately and enjoy viewing others profiles in anonymous mode. If you paid extra, you won’t need to show yourself from hidden profile.

Those who view your profile, are usually recruiters who are interested in potential candidate’s skills and will contact you if they have new openings available.

Sometimes, more often lately, you are bothered by Asian manufactures who are trying to build their networks in order to sell their products.

I live in Switzerland but the subscription is in GBP I guess as that's where I first signed up. £24.98 = €28 currently.


CHF is at a historic high against GBP and EUR and I guess these companies have to hedge against a change in currency rates but it's pretty much been that way for a long time now. 29eur to 35CHF is 1.2 which isn't too bad. You can still find stickers on clothes where the CHF price is double the euro one.

The business model of Linkedin is quite simple. "Basic" users publish their personal network information for free so that "Premium" users can exploit this information for a certain fee. It is similar to Facebook it is not really free, you pay with your personal data. I recommend to activate the setting in Linkedin so that your contacts cannot browse your network.

On the one hand I agree you should limit sharing data on any platform, but if you're not going to actually have a shared network then surely it makes more sense to not join LinkedIn at all?

I just don't like the hypocrisy of people approaching you on Linkedin that pretend to be interesed in you but just want to



a) increase their contacts counter


or


b) use your CV for mass recruiting



or


c) browse your network for business purposes


a) is waste of time
b) is waste of time 99% of time and might damage your reputation with employers (makes you "cheap")

c) is waste of time and might damage your reputation with your network

Quite simple, don't add people you have not met before in the real world.

But....I'm happy that scientists/professors that write articles and books add people they don't know like me. Yes I'm a linkedin user with double standards

I did actually get some consultancy work via my Linked-In account in 2020, so it's not completely useless. A whole half day, but that's not their fault.

I trawl through my updates occasionally and almost all are a load of corporate BS, full of "journeys" of various kinds. Also insincere gratitude to wonderful bosses and colleagues. Yuk.

I'll just agree that Premium seems absolutely pointless. I have not even tried the free trials.

Obviously, but I'm not suggesting a completely open network.

I share my network only with my contacts, then we can see groups that we have in common. I only connect with people I actually do business with.