active networking is the 10th circle of hell,never in my life have I felt so actively disgusted with myself in a social context. how do you do this without the urge to 
or how do you tamp down that urge because oh my god I cannot stomach it, it feels so fucking slimy to do. i can’t even do it at events where the sole purpose is networking, my dad pressed me into one and I bailed 15 minutes in after hovering around, it feels so utterly degrading and gross
A big problem I have with “networking events” is that your in a place with other people who are there for transactional discussions. Like, go into this room and beg for a job. The people there are expecting it.
Networking in low/no pressure social situations, like a party, where nobody even talks about business, but plays games or dances or whatever or talks about hobbies - and you make a social connection and then later you find out they may be interested or able to help with a work thing, thats much cooler.
Like, treat networking like you are trying to make friends. Talk to the cool people and the people who are easy to talk to and ignore the shit heads