What Does “Networking” Mean?

We lawyers on LinkedIn always say:

“Law students need to be ‘networking!’”

I, of course, am all for that.

But could we get something straight first?

👉  What does “networking” even mean?

⬇️

To start us off, here are some possible definitions

(lifted, gelled, and lightly edited from a combination of several dictionaries):

▪️ “Interacting socially for the purpose of getting connections or personal advancement.”
▪️ “Gathering and nurturing productive relationships for employment or business.”
▪️ “Cultivating people who can be helpful to one professionally, especially in finding employment or moving to a higher position.”

Those seem reasonable to me.

But for purposes of networking,

—in the legal industry
—on LinkedIn

Might we be more specific?

👉 Here is what I propose (and it doesn’t come from any dictionary):

      “making new friends and figuring out ways to help them.”

What do you think?

(I believe I heard it on FB, in some comment string between law students I do not know.)

I liked it so much, I thought I’d propose it to you.

So, please tell me your thoughts,

❓ how should we define “networking” for law students on LinkedIn?

💌 Amanda

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#Dear1L

P.S. I realize people use LinkedIn for a wide range of reasons relating to the word “networking.”

Here are the ones that pop first to mind.

-finding a job
-finding clients
-promoting products and services
-promoting themselves (legit?)
-building company brands
-building personal brands
-building books of business

So, I suppose we could have different definitions of “networking” depending on a person’s goals, but I think if everyone starts out from the base point of trying to make friends—not transactional relationships—and also trying to support those friends, then LinkedIn would have a better chance of staying the way it is now in terms of culture and tone (which I love 💕).

How would you define “networking”?