Here's the crux: "academic 'excellence' alone won't guarantee a successful career. Luck and having connections in the field is almost equally important, if not more." This leads to the phenomenon of 'networking', in which relationships become commodities. Counter to this, though: "we should shift our perspective to see networking as a vehicle for real human connection rather than merely a means to an end, that is, creating a network." What we see happening on LinkedIn is networking; what we see in (say) the blogging community is connection. "If we focus on the intrinsic value of what networking can be, we will eventually come across like-minded people who share similar values and passions. Finding connections like these will add the most genuine value to our academic lives."
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