During my 6 years in the industry, I never bothered making new connections or growing my network. To be honest I wasn't aware of how important connections are for personal and career development. Apart from networking, I didn't even make new friends during this time and I am stuck with just a few friends. I sometimes feel very alone when I can't find someone to hang out with during weekend.<p>Those who sit all day long working on a computer, how did you manage to make new connection and grow you network? Also how do you make good friends online?
For me, what worked is actively searching for activities that force me to interact. For example, learning languages. I just started to learn french in a classroom enviroment. And I got couple of good friends out of it.<p>In the work area, I still work in an office so talking with people is not so difficult. But if was online, I would create a group chat to talk , send memes (funny ones related to your job)and unwind in general. I would also propose, for example, play the among us game. Is funny, and force you to talk.<p>But one thing it took me some time to understand is that making friends (coworkers or not) is a marathon. Takes time and effort.<p>I wish you good luck!