Anti-Social Networking

I’m not good at networking. I can be shy about calling acquaintances or even colleagues when I need information or an introduction. At trade shows and cocktail parties, I tend to hide in a corner and slink out altogether as soon as I can.

Actually, I can be downright anti-social. Look at my career choice. Freelancing is by nature isolating. And I like that. I struggle to force myself out of my cave every once in a while to go to a press conference or a professional meeting at the National Press Club.

Then along come all these online social networks. I’m much better at sitting at a computer and writing than I am at making small talk in the buffet line. I’m in my element now. I am a networking fool! I’m logging in and typing away at all hours! I’m using Facebook and LinkedIn to reconnect and keep in touch with old colleagues, not to mention friends, without even having to pick up the phone. I’m joining professional groups and having online discussions about which magazines are still using freelancers, which have folded and which have simply stopped paying. I’m posting links of my latest articles on Twitter to market myself. And I’m using these tools to troll for sources for my stories. In the old days, I might spend days calling and asking around to find, for example, a day trader with an opinion on some esoteric financial regulation. And even then, my chances were slim. With LinkedIn, Twitter and HARO, I can put out a request in the morning and sometimes have my source by that afternoon.

And now, I’m blogging. The ultimate in anti-social networking. I’m hiking through the online woods, muttering to myself. At least for now. I guess, eventually, I’ll find out if anybody’s listening.