A MySpace-style business networking website with more than a million members across Europe has been launched in the UK.
Viadeo, which is growing at 3,000 members per day, claims to allow firms to recruit employees in the way teenagers flirt on cult site MySpace.
Business people enter information about their experience and skills on the website and then invite other trusted associates into their online network.
As people join their network, they get access to one anothers’ contacts, boosting the network of clients, suppliers, jobs and employees.
“Online social networks are no longer just for kids,” says Peter Cunningham, Viadeo UK manager.
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“Teenagers have been meeting old and new friends and participating in online communities for years using social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace, and businesses would be missing a trick if they didn’t [do the same].
“With Viadeo, online networking often leads to offline meetings, and for us, networking is more than just a website. However, online communities make it easier to meet valuable new people, wherever they are in the world.”