They are bantering, schmoozing, engaging in social intercourse and even conducting formal and informal business. All via the Internet. This medium has generated several ways of conversing: email, instant messengers, chat rooms, forums and posts.

Benefits are instant and manifold. Networking expert Susan Roane feels that the Internet helps in breaking the ice between two strangers, "When we visit chat rooms and areas of special interest we already know what we have in common with fellow cyber conversationalists!"

What's more, it also makes communicating a real bargain, eliminating the cost of calls, mail, couriers and faxes; and also saving time. Today, networking online can involve large groups spread across the globe. It can also be structured and unlimited by the initiative of group.

Working the chat room

Shailesh Kuber likes to tell of how it took him just 30 minutes to find a freelance copywriter for a friend in the advertising agency, Lintas: "It all happened using my three instant messengers and a few quick emails sitting in my office cubicle!"

HR professional Mohit Setu uses his know-how in the HR industry to post job vacancies on his newsgroup. Solomon Thomas, Head of Technical Support at a software firm, uses the Net to find people listed on intellectual property sites, who have business plans similar to his own; and papers that can perhaps promote his products and resources. "There are sites like New Idea Trade and Eventures.com, which are extremely useful. I have enlisted myself there."

They are not alone. Pradeep Natarajan, CEO of Rivalogic discussed deliverables for a project with a Singapore based company on MSN and ICQ. He froze the contract within three or four days: "They found our Web site and wrote in to us. I was apprehensive because we had never met them, and they didn't come with any references. But the project was finished on time and the payments were also remitted online!"

Electronic conversation can also help begin or sustain a personal or professional relationship. Pradeep says, "I once met a Kathy Homrig, CEO from a Silicon Valley startup on ICQ. We were discussing our hobbies, and then went on to discuss our business lives. She also sent across the CD of her company to see if we could work together... It didn't pan out, but we are still in touch."

Dan Burrus, author of Techno Trends, feels technology is a must for businesses, entrepreneurs and executives. However, he warns, "Technology does not run companies… Relationships do. And technology can enhance relationships."

Nurturing Relationships

But networking on the Internet does not just afford tangible benefits professionally. Personally, it helps create and nurture relationships. It's about being useful to people, sharing in their joys and sorrows, and being there for them when they require you. The Internet can increase your resourcefulness and make interaction faster and more effective.

Kuber raised money for a friend's family member's operation using the same network, and even got people to donate blood. Another case is that of Jai Raj Gupta, CEO, ShaadiOnline.com, who moderates the IIMC alumni network online. He says, "The alumni network actually ran a fund raising campaign to sponsor some students who wanted to go abroad on an international business programme and had no way to organise funds."

Kuber illustrates how the interesting avenues opened up by the Web can be used to touch base with people: "If I find an article or site that may interest an old friend who I haven't met in a year, it's much easier for me to mail him the link with two lines appended. This keeps my relationship with him/her alive. They also remember your thoughtfulness for keeping their interests in mind."

"I recall, until some years ago, touching base meant writing out in long hand on inland letters, hunting for stamps, going over to the post office and then waiting patiently for a week or two for a response," he adds, "Gone are those days."

Disadvantages of networking online

While some people may wax rhapsodic about cyberspace, others are skeptical. Dr Philip Zombardi, author of Shyness: What it is, what to do about it, has discovered that we are becoming less socially adept and increasingly shy because we are spending more time with our computers.

Roane agrees: She warns newbies not to hide behind email, "We must never substitute our typing for our talking. Far too many exchanges that should be conducted over the phone or in person (when possible) are being done through email. Inappropriately so. We must never say anything in an email that we would not want to hear in a court of law, a meeting with a boss, or read to our loved ones."

Networking, according to most users, is about building relationships that cannot happen overnight. Users stress the need to stop using chat rooms and discussion boards as a way of collecting a pile of visiting cards. Says Kuber, "One should not forget that behind every email, chat message or forum post, there is a live human being. One should remember that and respect their viewpoints, their sensibilities and treat them as people."