MyNetworkValue, an interesting add-on from Xing

One of my online networking friends, Giorgio Occhioni, was kind enough to give me the heads up on a new service Xing (one of Europe's most important social networks) is offering. I'm mentioning it here because I'm quite impressed with the way Xing has invented this free tool and turned it into a marketing instrument for its paying service at Xing.

MyNetworkValue is a website where you can measure the worth of your network according to your age and number of contacts. They even place an amount in euros on it, which is not nearly scientific, but a fun test to do. You only need to fill out some parameters and this test gives you a number which you can then compare to the average in your age group, industry and country.

The only drawback I see is that the test is only available in German so far, and if as a Dutch speaker I understood enough to take it, I can imagine French speakers or Spanish speakers will simply walk away. But as far as the idea goes, I think it is pretty smart of the Xing people to offer this generic network test to redirect users to their website.

After all, who doesn't want to know how much his/her network is worth?

Big fish eating the small...

So Neurona has been bought by Xing. That's the second Spanish network that Xing has bought in ony a couple of months, the first being eConozco. It's not that I have anything against Xing or that I mind them buying small European networks to reinforce their position on the market (Xing seems determined to position itself as THE European network on the market) but I do find it a shame that these small networks disappear, especially since Europe has so little of them already.

If we look at the Spanish speaking market than I am loath to admit that the only networks around are either Latino oriented (meaning American) or from Brazil (and even then the only serious contenders in the business area are TEN or Via6, which are primarily Portuguese).

So while it lasts, feel free to connect with me on Neurona or eConozco.