social networking- is it demanded in your profession?

[Kyriakos]

I was invited to two publishing houses this week (both of mainly periodicals). I guess i have to go to one of them, since the publication of my third story in its magazine is pending, but i am not sure if i will attend the other's meeting (it is a celebration of the global day of poetry).

Also this last week i became sort of known to another of this city's writers. I gave him my story to read, if he finds time to, and wait for his comments.

However social networking is not really something i am fond of. I am not sure what is expected of me, although then again the other people are neither sure what i might expect (i expect little) of them.

But it seems obviously true that the more connections i have in the realm of letters, the better my chances are to get a successful book deal, which is my end game currently.

The thread can be more about social networks, if you have an expanded such network, if you deem it useful for professional or personal reasons. I think that when (if) i have 10 publications out, it will be easier to circulate my work to magazines, since currently there are some which did not even reply back to me about the work i sent them...

 

[downtown]

It would be completely impossible for me to do my job without me being very active on social networking.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Coordinating with other labs to share materials, compare data, and perform joint experiments is pretty important in science. Not sure if this was what you had in mind with "social networking" though.

 

[warpus]

I'm a web developer/programmer/database guy. We are expected to be introverts

 

[Kyriakos]

Coordinating with other labs to share materials, compare data, and perform joint experiments is pretty important in science. Not sure if this was what you had in mind with "social networking" though.

I guess this is great, in that the object of your social relation is the same as that of your main interest in life (?).

For me creating new people i am familiar with is only a means to an end though. My work is solitary. But i cannot function utterly by myself (i doubt anyone can) so i need such networks as well, to some degree.
Maybe when i can afford to be a hermit i will rethink my stance, at least a hermit in regards to meating people due to my work needing it to expand

 

[Kyriakos]

I'm a web developer/programmer/database guy. We are expected to be introverts

I wonder if being a (highly functional) autistic could be seen as a bonus in that profession, at least under some circumstances.

 

[Kyriakos]

It would be completely impossible for me to do my job without me being very active on social networking.

However you write non-fiction, and that by definition requires meeting a lot of people, and having access to external sources for your work. In my case my work is a fountain of esoterism.

ps: sorry for the multiple posting, i will use multi-quote in the future

 

[warpus]

I wonder if being a (highly functional) autistic could be seen as a bonus in that profession, at least under some circumstances.

It depends. A lot of the work I do is best done in isolation, but a part of the job for me is meeting with clients and converting what they think they want to system requirements. You need social skills to be good at that sort of thing.

A junior or even intermediate web developer (or programmer) would probably get by and do well, depending on the size of the web team. If there are more experienced developers meeting with clients and determining system requirements, then you can probably be a very good developer, even if your social skills are severely lacking...

But at some point you will probably need to work on those social skills - when that senior developer moves on to another company or quits - and you want to move up in the organization and get a promotion.. Or, who knows, at some point your boss might ask you to meet with a client.. you never know.

So yeah, if it's a large team of developers, they'll probably have a couple guys who are very introverted, who just sit there quietly and solve problems. But on a smaller team (I'm a team of 1), you sort of need to do a little bit of everything - so meeting with clients is going to be in your schedule.. so you better not be an antisocial idiot

 

[downtown]

However you write non-fiction, and that by definition requires meeting a lot of people, and having access to external sources for your work. In my case my work is a fountain of esoterism.

ps: sorry for the multiple posting, i will use multi-quote in the future

By profession, I'm actually a recruiter. I use social networking to communicate with possible job applicants, and to find people to apply for our positions. I prob spend at least 2 hours a day at work stalking people on LinkedIn. Almost everything I do is related to networking at some level.

 

[Oruc]

No thank God! I turn up at work, do my job and go home. Don't need a social network and how much I want to talk to other people is upto me which isn't much. Although working with someone from a van for 5 hrs not saying anything is pretty awkward. Guy I'm working with this week is deaf but reads lips, talking to him in the van was pretty hairy at first.

 

[Save_Ferris]

Social networking isn't encouraged at school, so no.

 

[Deviate]

We monitor social networks for feedback/commentary at my job. Depending on the situation we'll reach out to the customer. (Tech Support/Customer Service Manager)