XING is a European social networking website for business professionals.
As with LinkedIn, XING's goal is to help members find jobs or get in touch with people they have worked with. The social media platform offers profiles for individual people and groups, as well as discussion boards and assistance with event coordination. Basic membership for the site is free, but for access to certain functions -- such as specific searches or messages to people to whom one is not connected -- requires a premium membership, which costs about $7.50 a month as of May 2012.
XING was founded in August 2003 by Lars Hinrichs. The social media platform had more than 11 million users in more than 200 countries as of May 2012. The majority of XING users (more then 80%) are employed full-time and more than 40% of its members hold managerial positions. More than 60% have received a university degree. The majority of users are men. XING is well represented in most industries, with 12% of the members in the information technology (IT) field. About 90% of the premium members visit the site on a regular basis. XING's headquarters is in Hamburg, Germany, but it also has offices in Barcelona, Milan, Istanbul and Beijing.