<story><title>Why Wallflowers Don&apos;t Make Friends</title><url>http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/04/why-wallflowers-dont-make-friends.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>rb808</author><text>Being a wallflower isn&amp;#x27;t a great way to meet people agreed. but after a few decades I&amp;#x27;ve come to realize that its a symptom rather than a cause - if you want to meet people you need to plan ahead - invite others to come with you, go to places you know people already - introduce yourself and chat to friends of friends not strangers.&lt;p&gt;If you go to a place where you&amp;#x27;re by yourself and aren&amp;#x27;t talking to people you aren&amp;#x27;t a wallflower, you just didn&amp;#x27;t prepare.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>hkmurakami</author><text>My &amp;quot;networking&amp;quot; became 100x easier and more effective once I ditched &amp;quot;networking events&amp;quot; (not that I ever went to many) and made &amp;quot;friends of friends&amp;quot; networking through hikes&amp;#x2F;biking&amp;#x2F;dinner&amp;#x2F;etc. my main mode of expanding my circle of friendly knowledge worker acquaintances.&lt;p&gt;Also you form actual friendships from time to time.</text></comment>
<story><title>Why Wallflowers Don&apos;t Make Friends</title><url>http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/04/why-wallflowers-dont-make-friends.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>rb808</author><text>Being a wallflower isn&amp;#x27;t a great way to meet people agreed. but after a few decades I&amp;#x27;ve come to realize that its a symptom rather than a cause - if you want to meet people you need to plan ahead - invite others to come with you, go to places you know people already - introduce yourself and chat to friends of friends not strangers.&lt;p&gt;If you go to a place where you&amp;#x27;re by yourself and aren&amp;#x27;t talking to people you aren&amp;#x27;t a wallflower, you just didn&amp;#x27;t prepare.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>danenania</author><text>This is very true--feeling comfortable and making friends in a roomful of complete strangers is difficult even for extroverts. Some people can pull it off but they are well outside the norm. Being a wallflower is a natural inclination for anyone in this scenario. It&amp;#x27;s not only shy people who feel this way.</text></comment>