PlumeBio Personal Bio Hosting Service Reinvents Social Networking

PlumeBio, the personal bio hosting service for people with a university (.edu) email, has launched, reinventing social networking for job seekers, according to a recent press release. PlumeBio offers a free public bio page with a short URL for users.

The service is completely free of ads and the common “engagement traps” found on the dominant networking platforms. Users, envisioned mostly as students or recent graduates looking to showcase their skills to find internships/jobs, can take advantage of a spam-protected contact form to communicate with prospective employers and other professional connections.

“The major social networking sites are failing job seekers,” said a spokesperson for PlumeBio. “I think we all know this, intuitively, but there have been few alternatives, until now. We are keeping things simple and focused on helping people network on their terms, not according to practices that maximize shareholder value at the expense of actual site users.”

He added, “In the pandemic moment, we already have so many barriers between job seekers and recruiters. Our service breaks these down, enabling open, productive connections.”

Dissatisfaction with established “who you know” platforms is increasing, with users expressing frustration with relentless sales pitches and pressure to upgrade to premium memberships. Studies now reveal that such practices are counterproductive for job seekers.

A recent research paper from the American Psychological Association found indications that using LinkedIn actually lowers one’s job search prospects. It noted, “an increase in job search behavior on LinkedIn was found to lead to poorer job search self-efficacy,” for example. The report also found the more individuals use LinkedIn for job search, “the more they become depleted, and the poorer their ensuing job search success.”

PlumeBio offers its users an easy-to-use template for writing a personal bio. In addition to job seeking, sample use cases include academic researchers looking to disseminate publications, people looking to connect with like-minded colleagues and people wishing to build a personal brand. Each user benefits from a contact form with advanced spam protection that is linked to their personal email address. Site visitors never see the user’s email or phone number, which mitigates the risk of abuse, spam and fraud.

Users need to submit a valid .edu email address to be permitted to use the site. PlumeBio will display that the email address has been verified. After setting up a bio page, the user can share their PlumeBio URL with others and the bios are discoverable on search engines.

As of now, the service is only for individuals, not corporations.

For more information, visit www.plumebio.com.