Have you built your Upwork Network? Has it helped?

[#1]

I'm curious to hear from those who have built their Upwork network. 

Who do you have in your network? Freelancers with similar skill sets? Those with different or complementary skill sets? Clients (is that possible)? How does expanding your network on Upwork benefit you?

I know networking is very helpful, but it seems much different to network in person instead of virtually.

[#2]

I'm not top rated, so I can't add people in Network but I have been getting requests from fellow country mates with similar skills to join their network, but I declined as I had no idea how it works.

Recently I accepted someone in Network and all she said was to help her and reffer her for work ( I myself rarely get hired nowadays because of increased connects for jobs )

[#3]

I honestly can't imagine how it could be helpful. It's good to have other freelancers whose work you know and trust to refer work to if it's outside your scope or you're too busy, and maybe get the same in return, but it should always only be a trusted person you know will perform well for the client. These artificial networks formed just for the purpose of hopefully getting work from someone else don't really fit the bill.