If you have attended marketing class or management class, you have been often told that you should network with people as much as you can because you can increase your PR or Professional Relationship only through networking with people. With the advent of social media, networking has upgraded to a new level. Today, when we talk about networking with people, it usually means social networking on various social sites. In the last 10 or 15 years, social media and social networking have taken the world by storm and now people are debating whether social networking is good or bad. Well, there are also those who believe in the middle path saying social networking is highly beneficial as long as you have set limitations. Interestingly, no one knows where should we draw boundary lines.
In my professional life, I get to meet a lot of enthusiastic young people. Interestingly, most of these job seekers and new job holders believe that they can build a better career only through social networking. Social networking can help, but you should not use social networks or networks for that matter only for building networks of people, you should use networking to learn new things. Networking can help a lot and take you up in your career more so when qualification alone is not a guarantee of a better future.
However, there are certain rules for online networking skills like being friendly help but being over mixing type may not be considered good for a professional. I do not feel comfortable being too much active on online forums or online social groups so I can say I missed a lot of good opportunities.
Over Active on Social Media
I look at activities of some of my friends who are over active on different social sites but I do not envy their skills of being so active and. They engage with every content that comes into their feed. As far I am concerned I don’t think that it’s necessary to attend everyone whether they have anything to do with our line of trade or interest just for the sake of being popular.
I often feel that I mishandled opportunities in the past but if I was asked to start all over again I would prefer to stay connected with people with similar interests. I have helped lots of people in the different fields even if I had no self-interest, even if I had to go out of my way, but in most cases, they never came back to say even a simple ‘thanks’ which hurts but I will not stop helping people in future too.
The Younger Cyber Generation
It’s rather tempting to assume that our over enthusiastic cyber generation is trying to be the authors of their own future and that is not as bad as it sounds. Some people think that this younger generation is itself to blame for not getting the best from the education. But it’s not that simple since it really helps if one stays connected with social media in a right way.
In fact, the job market is becoming very competitive and networking skills can help professionals in more than one way. However, people, these days are going overboard even going out of their comfort zone keeping in touch with each and everyone whether they have anything in common or not is not the right idea.
A Word of Caution
We can’t live with the thought that it’s harder to take your eyes off your gadgets and enjoy life as it goes and it really goes a lot when you look around yourself with open eyes. However, the fact remains that business is being driven by technology in almost every area. Also, that our engagement with social media is starting at such a young age when we are not ready perhaps for the cyber world. In other words we do not know about the impact or understand the extent we can trust the cyber world.
Social networking even though it seems as a great thing, if overused you can have “serious” problems. One, and the most common one is an addiction. Another one is an addiction where you seek validation from other people which will affect your self worth or the way you perceive yourself.
It is bad for young minds because they do not socialize outside and they are not learning how to read facial expressions of people.
Ever since I started working online as a freelancer, I have been able to teach myself time management. t
This have been something that is very beneficial for me especially when it comes to balancing my work life and also my personal life.
A lot of people find it very difficult to separate themselves from their work and get involved in their personal life and this all contribute to increasing someone’s chances of suffering from mental health issues.
True! Networking is crucial for career growth, but it should not be solely focused on building a large network. Instead, networking should be used as a tool to learn and grow professionally. While social media can be beneficial, it is important to set limitations and not become overly active. The younger generation should be cautious about their engagement with social media and understand the impact it can have. Ultimately, networking skills can be valuable, but it should be approached with balance and a clear understanding of its purpose.