Over at FreelanceSwitch, we've had a few posts recently discussing the usefulness of networking sites like LinkedIn for freelance professionals: 5 Reasons to Use LinkedIn, Are You Getting Clients on LinkedIn? In last year’s Freelancer’s Survey we learned that (among other things): a) a growing portion of freelancers indicated they’re finding more clients using social media and b) many of those freelancers are web developers and programmers.

LinkedIn seems geared towards more traditional employer-employee opportunities, so is it useful for landing development gigs on the side? I'd love to hear the Nettuts+ community weigh in! Do you use LinkedIn? Has LinkedIn ever landed you a gig or new opportunity? I was curious what the web developer demographic was for a network like LinkedIn, so I pulled up the stats:

• 659,000 members currently list themselves as web developers.
• 1.8 million members identify themselves as developers.
• 817,000 members use "programmer" in their title.
• Many major tech and web companies use LinkedIn to field new hires, including Google, eBay, Rackspace and more.
• LinkedIn boasts some active web developer communities like End to End Web Developers and Open Source group. Also a Q&A section on Web Development.

Do you use LinkedIn to get in touch with other developers or clients? Participate in any active developer Groups? Share in the comments below!

If you're interested in improving your LinkedIn activity, Rockable Press just released LinkedIn and Lovin' It! in three, DRM-free formats (pdf, epub, and mobi). You can download a 14 page sample for free. It's available for $17, but if you join Rockable Press' own LinkedIn group, you can get a voucher for $3 off. Stop in and say hi!