Tiny Subversions

It's crucial to understand that each person you are on friendly terms with expands your capabilities.

But there's still a sense of "drive" missing. So far, your articles have been technically excellent, but I don't see one which convinces someone in their heart, rather than their head.

Leading by example is good, but only if you have people following you. I wonder if you can write an essay which will convince people to change their whole outlook on life - all for networking.

That would be the best article you could write. Something which would make a reader standing at a bus stop say, "all these people standing here with me are opportunities - both for me and them."
 

Excellent point, Craig. I was hoping to hit on this in my articles about making friends. But I think you're right. I should frame my whole series like you so eloquently stated.
 

Another way to describe the benifits of networking, especially in the field of interaction design, is that interacting with anyone, even if they turn out to be functionally useless, has aesthetic benifits in that it broadens, however incrementally, one's concept of interaction.
 

I think Craig makes a good point, but I also see the wisdom of your approach. I have a friend (no really, it's _not_ me...) who is brilliant (see, I told you it's not me) but who is intimidated by networking. She is really great one on one and in small groups, but she gets nervous when in a large social situation. If you had started your articles with the "change your outlook on life approach" that Craig has suggested, she might not have read your articles. She could have concluded that she's not that person, and walked away.

One of the things that Richard Bartle and Jessica Hammer have separately expounded upon is that games give us a way to reimagine the world, to reimagine ourselves. Personally, I've found that being aware of play has made it possible to be playful in other areas of my life. For example, you should see the shoes I'm wearing.

So I don't know if one article or one series of articles will help someone re-evaluate her outlook on life. It could be a catalyst for someone, and so please keep writing! And if virtual worlds and play help us reimagine what we might be, what kinds of catalysts help people to bridge that gap? What makes them pick up on a passage from a book, or to see their choice of footwear as a chance to play?

Just late night thoughts that might not even make sense. Feel free to edit as you see fit - I trust you, D.
 

your article is inspiring. But, what if, you're a really really shy person. How do you get up the nerve to talk to somebody? And how would you hold a conversation if you have trouble with saying sentences/have stuttering, any of that kind of thing when you're not very confident?

That's the thing that's been been detrimental to me from the start.
 

SE: It's now on my to-do list to write an article addressing those very concerns! I'd give you some advice here, but I really need to think about this one.