XING is a
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
-based career-oriented
social networking site
A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, act ...
, operated by New Work SE (until mid-2019 ''XING SE'').
The site is primarily focused on the German-speaking market, alongside XING Spain, and competes with the American platform
LinkedIn
LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...
.
Company history
OPEN Business Club AG was founded in August 2003 in Hamburg,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
by
Lars Hinrichs
Lars Hinrichs (born 18 December 1976, Hamburg, Germany) is a German entrepreneur and investor. Hinrichs is best known as the founder of XING, a Germany focused, but worldwide available, social networking website dedicated mostly to cultivating b ...
.
Its official debut was 1 November 2003. It was renamed XING in November 2006.
In its early years, the site pursued a global strategy; however, since 2012, XING has focused on the German-speaking market, as 76% of all XING page views come from Germany and 90% come from the
D-A-CH
This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the German language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken. In addition to the German-speaking area (german: Deutscher Sprachraum) in Europe, ...
area.
Leadership
Lars Hinrich led the company as CEO until 2009, when he was succeeded by Stefan Groß-Selbeck. Thomas Vollmoeller has served from 2012 and was succeeded by Petra von Strombeck in 2020.
Number of users
As of April 2019, XING reported 16 million members, up from 10 million members in the
D-A-CH
This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the German language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken. In addition to the German-speaking area (german: Deutscher Sprachraum) in Europe, ...
area in March 2016, which at that time included 880,000 premium members.
Ownership and acquisitions
In November 2009,
Hubert Burda Media
Hubert Burda Media Holding is a German media group with headquarters in Offenburg. It originated as a small printing business, founded by Franz Burda Snr in Philippsburg, in 1903.
In 1986, the corporate group was divided up between Franz Jnr, ...
acquired 25.1% of XING, becoming its main shareholder. In 2010, XING acquired online event management company Amiando, changing its name to XING EVENTS. In 2012,
Burda increased its shareholding to over 50%. In 2013, XING acquired Austrian e-recruiting company Kununu. In 2015, XING announced a cooperation project with eyeson, a
unified communications
Unified communications (UC) is a business and marketing concept describing the integration of enterprise communication services such as instant messaging (chat), presence information, voice (including IP telephony), mobility features (including e ...
provider. In 2017, XING acquired global expat network InterNations and Austrian recruitment company Prescreen. In April 2019, XING paid €22 million for Honeypot, a Berlin-based IT job platform.
IPO
XING became the first
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, and ...
company to go public in Europe, debuting on 7 December 2006 at an issue price of 30 Euros per share.
Website
The platform offers personal profiles, groups, discussion forums, event coordination, and other common social community features. Basic membership is free, but many core functions, like searching for people with specific qualifications or messaging people to whom one is not already connected, can only be accessed by the premium members. Premium membership comes at a monthly fee from €6.35 to €9.95 depending on the billing interval you choose and the country you are from. The platform uses
and has a rigid privacy and no-spam policy.
XING has a special Ambassador program for each city or region around the world with a substantial constituency. The Ambassadors hold local events that promote the use of
social networking
A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...
as a business tool, letting members introduce business ideas to one another.
XING also offers the system for closed communities, called Enterprise groups with their own access paths and interface designs. The platform serves as the infrastructure for corporate groups, including IBM, McKinsey, Accenture and others.
About 76% of all pageviews come from Germany, 90% from the
D-A-CH
This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the German language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken. In addition to the German-speaking area (german: Deutscher Sprachraum) in Europe, ...
area (Germany, Austria and Switzerland).
As of 15 September 2017 XING has changed its legal status to become a
Societas Europaea
A ''societas Europaea'' (, ; "European society" or "company"; plural: ; abbr. SE) is a public company registered in accordance with the corporate law of the European Union (EU), introduced in 2004 with the Council Regulation on the Statute f ...
.
If a user wishes to change their name, additional proof is demanded. In case of affirmation of gender for
transgender people
This list consists of many notable people who are transgender. The individual listings note the subject's nationality and main occupation.
In some non-Western, ancient or medieval societies, transgender people may be seen as a different gend ...
given names and gender will not be changed without medical testimony or provision of court documents confirming the person's transition in a medical or legal context.
[Stock response of „Team Quality and Security“ of Xing AG to affected persons][Stock response of Head of Customer Service of Xing AG to affected persons] If gender is reassigned, birth names are removed, which is legally required, because any disclosure or investigation would be illegal under German law, as per Sec. 5 para. 1 and Sec. 10 para. 2
Transsexual Act.
Revenue
XING Mobile
Xing.com Mobile allows users to access some of its functions using a mobile phone, PDA or smartphone. Standards supported: HTML 3.2, XHTML MP 1.0, WML 1.1.
XING plug-ins
Xing.com plugins are available for free download that allow contact synchronization with Lotus Notes, Microsoft Outlook,
Tutorial: Connecting Social Networks with Outlook
(German) Windows Address Book and Outlook Express
Outlook Express, formerly known as Microsoft Internet Mail and News, is a discontinued email and news client included with Internet Explorer versions 3.0 through to 6.0. As such, it was bundled with several versions of Microsoft Windows, from ...
. It also allows manual CSV File import–export and has a Firefox search plug-in.
Recruitment
Since October 2007, XING has run a job marketplace for candidates and recruiters. Alongside fixed-price job ads, XING was one of the first German job boards to use a pay-per-click payment model, where the cost of an ad is based on user views
See also
* LinkedIn
LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...
* Viadeo
Viadeo is a Web 2.0 professional social network whose members include business owners, entrepreneurs and managers. Viadeo was often compared to LinkedIn, offering free access but not being able to compete with the larger corporation. As of 2014, ...
* BoardEx
BoardEx is a global data company specializing in relationship mapping and intelligence.
Founded in 1999, and with offices in New York, London and Chennai, BoardEx is a wholly owned subsidiary of Euromoney PLC, a member of the FTSE 250 share inde ...
* Professional network service
A professional network service (or, in an Internet context, simply professional network) is a type of social network service that focuses on interactions and relationships for business opportunities and career growth, with less emphasis on activiti ...
* Social software
Social software, also known as social apps or social platform, include communications and interactive tools that are often based on the Internet. Communication tools typically handle the capturing, storing and presentation of communication, usua ...
* Social networking service
A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, act ...
* List of social networking websites
A social networking service is an online platform that people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections.
This is a li ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Companies based in Hamburg
Professional networks
German social networking websites
2003 establishments in Germany
Employment social networks
Companies in the TecDAX