OpenBC, the German equivalent of LinkedIn, is to rebrand as Xing. Although I welcome this move, I somehow feel that OpenBC is selling itselve short. By rebranding itself with a funky new ‘web 2.0′ name and logo i think they will alienate a lot of their existing users. OpenBC is primarily a serious business network, where professionals meet and connect online. The name Xing sounds too trendy for a European-centric business community to accept. The rebrand will widen the ‘conceptual’ gap between OpenBC and LinkedIn, which will only lead to tears. LinkedIn is by far the biggest social business network out of the two sites, so it would have been far better for OpenBC to get closer to its community rather than distance itself from them. View my LinkedIn Profile.
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