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There was a similar discussion on HN in 2018: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17791766
I've also had surprising success cold emailing small companies in my research field. I didn't take the offer in the end, but I'd probably try again in the future.
I don't know what "using my network" would even mean - just limit myself to a handful of companies (that I know nothing about) and cold-message people that I haven't spoked to in months/years so they can maybe check if there are open positions (which I could have looked up on the company's career page) and then can maybe refer me? Every part of it sounds weird, the whole "find a job through your network" is concept from an ideal world where I actively maintain relationships with many people in great companies that I want to work at. I don't know how many people are in that situation but I'm not one of them.
Most often I've applied directly.
Sometimes with a small dialogue first with someone within the company that I knew.
I've never used a recruiter. I did talk to one, but they seemed too much in the pocket of one employer.
I don’t live in a hot tech market area - I am pretty sure most companies here use public boards to fill most of their developer positions.
It worked really well.