Re:It's all who you know?
by Mz on Sunday February 10, 2013 @11:49PM
(#5199440)
I don't feel the hostility you express, but I do think he is, shall we say, oversimplifying. He likely doesn't realize it.
The one good thing I think he says is that you can connect via the internet. I currently feel pretty socially isolated, even when online, and have for years. Emailing folks generally doesn't work for me (I mean me being the initiator tends to go down in flames). And I currently have a lot of baggage concerning feeling used and pissed on by quite a lot of people. In spite of all that, I do think the internet is a great way to make connections. I have had that experience in the past and I expect to again someday.
Edit: I will add that Sivers' story of buying pizza for an industry insider at an elite school reminds me of a story I read of a woman pulling a multi thousand dollar couch off the curb and reupholstering it to improve the decor of her mansion for next to nothing with a "you, too, can do this!" type message. I have reclaimed furniture from the curb and refurbished it. I assure you, none of it was originally worth scads of money. So, no, we cannot all do what Sivers did. He had a serious leg up on how to meet and greet influential people. It is pretty insulting to imply that if you don't have the kind of success he has, you just aren't trying. (I am sure he did not intend to imply that but he does, in fact, imply just that.)
The one good thing I think he says is that you can connect via the internet. I currently feel pretty socially isolated, even when online, and have for years. Emailing folks generally doesn't work for me (I mean me being the initiator tends to go down in flames). And I currently have a lot of baggage concerning feeling used and pissed on by quite a lot of people. In spite of all that, I do think the internet is a great way to make connections. I have had that experience in the past and I expect to again someday.
Edit: I will add that Sivers' story of buying pizza for an industry insider at an elite school reminds me of a story I read of a woman pulling a multi thousand dollar couch off the curb and reupholstering it to improve the decor of her mansion for next to nothing with a "you, too, can do this!" type message. I have reclaimed furniture from the curb and refurbished it. I assure you, none of it was originally worth scads of money. So, no, we cannot all do what Sivers did. He had a serious leg up on how to meet and greet influential people. It is pretty insulting to imply that if you don't have the kind of success he has, you just aren't trying. (I am sure he did not intend to imply that but he does, in fact, imply just that.)