Networking
it's not collecting contacts, it's building a graph that owes you nothing yet
Grounded in the research on Wikipedia: Social network / Mark Granovetter, 'The Strength of Weak Ties' (1973)
step 1 - name it
Networking isn't handing out cards or padding your follower count. It's deliberately building and maintaining a web of relationships you can route information, help, and opportunity through. The unit isn't 'a contact' — it's a live connection that carries something both ways. A name in your phone you've never traded value with isn't a tie. It's a number.
step 2 - know the science
Mark Granovetter's 1973 paper 'The Strength of Weak Ties' is the foundation. He found people landed jobs not through close friends but loose acquaintances — your inner circle knows what you already know. Weak ties bridge into other clusters carrying fresh info. Networking works because your network's reach, not its warmth, decides what reaches you. Most people only ever water the ties they don't need.