Is socializing the same as making advances for you? I agree, making advances is risky, and you probably shouldn't do it at work, or at the workplace of the person you're making advances towards.

> and you probably shouldn't do it at work

Why not? You spend 1/3+ of your life at work. You are more likely to meet a wider selection of people at work than you are through even your weak social network if you work for a company of any reasonable size.

There aren't hard and fast rules when social interactions come into play. Social interactions are, by nature, ambiguous and have lots of societal context.

Yes, there are bright lines which are obviously criminal, but, below that, it gets very murky, very quickly.

An advance doesn't have to be sexual or flirtatious in nature. It could be as simple as striking up a conversation with someone you've never talked to before or inviting someone out to a group activity.