8 LinkedIn Alternatives For Professional Networking

In terms of thought management and nice alternatives, professionals are lacking out in the event that they’re not on LinkedIn. It’s the world’s largest skilled community with over 1.2 billion members in 200 countries and areas worldwide.

LinkedIn’s reputation rose following a major flip away from X (previously Twitter), and customers regarded for continuation with their established viewers and exiting community, however information feeds are actually stuffed with AI-generated posts and really noisy with self-promotional shouting.

Additionally, there have been adjustments to the platform’s algorithm that prioritize advert income and sponsored content material, and it may be inconceivable to seek out posts from the folks you do wish to attain and work together with.

Fortunately, LinkedIn isn’t the one platform the place you’ll be able to community and proceed to work together with folks in your neighborhood and community in your {industry}.

Listed here are eight skilled networking alternate options to LinkedIn that will help you connect with alternatives:

Occasion & In-Individual Networking

1. Meetup

Screenshot from Meetup, October 2025

With over 52 million members, Meetup is a social media platform that connects you to like-minded fanatics in your individual local people, wherever you could be positioned. It’s a platform that encourages face-to-face conferences to kind lasting, high-quality connections.

Whether or not you join as an organizer or a member, the platform gives instruments that enable you create and talk scheduled Meetup occasions.

From internet hosting digital occasions about AI instruments as an organization to assembly fellow entrepreneurs and training public talking abilities, you’ll be able to get pleasure from a variety of social actions.

In the event you don’t discover one which pursuits you or one which works together with your schedule, you’ll be able to set one up, and Meetup will notify anybody who has recognized your subject as one thing of curiosity to them.

2. Eventbrite Communities

Screenshot from Eventbrite, October 2025

Just like Meetup, Eventbrite is a large networking platform, internet hosting 4.7 million complete occasions in 180 international locations in 2024, centered on larger-scale skilled gatherings and festivals alike.

You may attend and revel in immersive or digital dwell experiences. It’s a seamless registration and sign-up course of, and very like attending a live performance, you purchase tickets to an occasion so you’ll be able to meet fellow friends, discuss store, and develop your skilled circle.

Group & Group-Based mostly Networking

3. Discord

Screenshot from Discord, October 2025

Whereas most individuals suppose Discord is proscribed to being a screen-sharing gaming communication platform (about 90% of customers play video games), it is usually a terrific networking choice.

It’s common to think about using Discord as an alternative choice to LinkedIn. In any case, it’s a free voice, video, and textual content communication platform with over 200 million month-to-month lively customers (MAU).

Screenshot from Discord, October 2025

Though it appears extra profitable for builders and gaming-related professionals to community on the platform, what units Discord aside is the real-time connections you may make, due to devoted areas, specifically Discord servers.

The platform makes collaboration a no brainer. Members can be a part of a number of channels, voice rooms, and dwell co-working classes which might be centered on their area of interest, which is much extra personable than a plain DM.

The informal setting additionally helps professionals calm down and work together higher than on formal job websites. Non-curated, genuine posts inside tight-knit communities on Discord can enhance your skilled networking higher than polished LinkedIn posts that get little to no consideration.

4. Slack Communities

Screenshot from Slack, October 2025

Whereas Slack is finest generally known as an organization’s inside messaging software, it has been adopted as a networking platform that may be thought-about as a LinkedIn various. There are nice communities for no matter your area of interest could also be, from startup founders to UX designers. For instance, information specialists can be a part of Measure, a digital analytics neighborhood Slack group, or LocallyOptimistic, one other information neighborhood that shares their challenges working with information.

Learn the foundations rigorously, as some Slack Chapters don’t enable mentions of your individual model/product, nor do they allow contacting for job alternatives.

The caveat is that you simply’re doubtless already utilizing Slack for work, so notifications in your cell phone and work system could be distracting. If you end up simply distracted by immediate messaging (IM) and cellular/desktop notifications, Slack may not be the best choice (although you’ll be able to all the time regulate notifications in your settings).

To seek out your related Slack neighborhood, merely seek for “[Your Topic] + Slack Group” in Google; this often turns up a number of choices. If it doesn’t exist but, you’ll be able to create your individual Slack workspace and invite folks to hitch without cost.

5. Fb Teams

Screenshot from Fb, October 2025

There are 3 billion month-to-month lively customers on Facebook, which signifies that whereas it’s typically seen as a private social media platform, you’re greater than more likely to discover your skilled community on it.

Fb can function a terrific, much less formal various to LinkedIn, significantly Fb teams, which stay common for skilled networking. You may plug in associated key phrases in your curiosity or {industry} inside Fb, then click on on Teams and filter the outcomes in keeping with your location.

There are a number of teams that share professional recommendation, maintain conferences, or function a community for hiring freelancers. These teams cater to varied elements of digital advertising and marketing, from tactical information to operating a digital company.

Open & Social Networking Platforms

6. Reddit

Screenshot from Reddit, October 2025

Reddit is rising in popularity and can be utilized for networking. With over 100,000 lively communities, Reddit boasts hundreds of useful marketing subreddits, together with r/PPC for paid search and r/search engine optimisation. These communities are fully free to hitch and open to the general public.

You may reply to these searching for skilled opinion and construct up your karma and profile to earn curiosity in your model/companies.

Every of those has its personal function, with a algorithm and mods in place to implement them, guaranteeing they’re not scams. So, when you’re job looking, it’s finest to seek for categorized boards comparable to r/RemoteJobs and r/forhire. You may reply to present posts or create your individual; merely join a free Reddit account to take part within the dialog.

7. X (previously Twitter) Threads

Screenshot from X (previously Twitter), October 2025

Like Reddit, X (formerly Twitter) isn’t a direct LinkedIn various, however it’s public, free, lively, and continues to be going robust with over 586 million estimated MAU. You may join with a broad viewers on it to alternate work-related concepts and ask for suggestions. It’s perfect for digital entrepreneurs as a result of it’s a high social media platform that simply attracts folks inside the tech {industry}.

The communities on the platform are public, free, lively, and could be actually supportive. You may as well ask Grok, the free AI assistant constructed into the platform, to research real-time information and present tendencies, to summarize conversations or uncover related information.

SEOs and digital entrepreneurs can discover hashtag-driven communities, comparable to @SEOChat, #PPCchat, #FBadsChat, #SEOchat, #SEOtalk, #socialROI, and #contentwritingchat. Merely displaying up for related conversations can result in convention invites, podcast appearances, or probably job alternatives.

Startup & Profession Targeted Platform

8. AngelList

Screenshot from AngelList, October 2025

For a extra startup-focused networking expertise, AngelList is a powerful various to LinkedIn. With over 13,000 lively startups on the platform, it was initially created for startup founders to lift funding, however has advanced right into a networking platform helpful to tech, advertising and marketing, and entrepreneurial professionals.

Members can create specialised profiles to spotlight their abilities, apply for job listings, comply with corporations, take part in discussions with professionals of their discipline, and join with founders to share information and experience.

AngelList is like LinkedIn, however custom-fit to startup fanatics and founders, so it’s extra doubtless that will help you acquire startup-stage connections and alternatives sooner than when you had been to browse on LinkedIn.

Wrapping Up

Whereas LinkedIn continues to be the most important skilled networking website on the planet, it’s not the one one you want. There are such a lot of alternate options to construct significant connections.

Many of those alternate options listed could also be extra useful than LinkedIn as a result of they give attention to creating extra skilled connections primarily based on neighborhood or area of interest pursuits, or provide location-based networking in a way more relaxed setting.

Professionals are branching out to different channels like Slack, the place they will foster real connections and or discover profession alternatives by way of a number of job boards on Reddit. The secret’s to fulfill your friends the place they’re, pitch your finest work, and join round a shared aim.

Whether or not you favor an off-the-cuff forum-style job posting or a high-energy dwell occasion, these LinkedIn alternate options will help you develop your community and take the following step in your profession.

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