Hot take: I tried a 'networking' app for a month versus just going to one local meetup, and the meetup won by a mile.

The app was all about collecting connections, like a game. I had 200+ 'contacts' in three weeks but zero real conversations. Then I went to a meetup at The Foundry co-working space last Tuesday. In two hours, I had a ten minute chat with a guy who runs a fulfillment center (like me!), and he gave me a specific tip about a freight broker that saved my next project about $800. The app felt like shouting into a void. The meetup was just people in a room, actually talking. Anyone else find that digital networking just doesn't compare to the real thing for actually getting useful info?

3 comments

3 Comments

jake_palmer997d ago

Totally get it. Those apps turn networking into a numbers game that feels empty. You have to treat the apps like a phone book, not the actual conversation. I use them just to find people who seem interesting, then I immediately send a message asking for a quick video call or to meet at an event they're going to. Skip the endless back and forth on the app itself. The real value still only happens face to face, even if that's over zoom.

the_robin7d ago

Exactly! I read this article about how our brains just don't get the same social cues from text... it's why app chats feel so dead. You miss all the tone and the little reactions that make a talk feel real. Jumping straight to a call cuts through that fake feeling. It forces a real human moment instead of just trading words on a screen.

nancy8247d ago

Yeah, treating apps like a phone book is the only way. I see the same thing with my friends trying to date online. They get stuck in weeks of texting that goes nowhere, because you're just building a fake idea of the person. A quick call, even a bad one, tells you more than a thousand perfect messages.