Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Are you obsessed with checking your Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn pages? Whenever meeting someone new, do you plunge into networking mode? Forbes.com recently pinpointed warning signs of when you may be a "compulsive networker" -- those who may be addicted to connecting with others but fail to have much to show for their efforts because they don't focus on making deeper bonds with others and just collect business cards.
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Some of the warning signs:
Feel happy when the number of your connections rises on your social media pages: "Some people are looking for validation and recognition," says David Sack, an addiction psychiatrist. "It may be partly a self-esteem issue that gets gratified by numbers."
Hand out business cards all of the time: "I've seen people give out their cards like mints," Andrea Nierenberg, president of The Nierenberg Consulting Group and author of networking books, told Forbes.com. "But if you don't have meaningful conversations, it's a waste."
Always thinking what's-in-it-for-me: "People that have agenda-based relationships size people up based on what they can do for them," says Reef Karim, psychiatrist and assistant clinical professor at UCLA. "Savvy people will probably see through it, and you may lose the relationship." What's more, those who leave a conversation as soon as you realize the other person can't help you may be a compulsive networker too. There's usually something to learn from everyone, networking experts say.
Fall into autopilot mode: In auto-pilot mode, you're not building a true business relationship but you're networking for personal gratification or to combat loneliness, Karim says. "It robs us of our ability to foster true inter-personal relationships," Karim told Forbes.com.
Constantly updating your social media pages: Are you constantly updating your social media status or checking to see if anyone has responded? "These are often one-way interactions that may rob you of your sanity," the Forbes.com article notes.
