Put another way, stop schmoozing and start listening.

Andrew Haeg over at his blog,the future of news discusses how journalists can harness the power of social media and reminds us of this recent piece in the Harvard business review.

In the classical networking approach, the game is about presenting yourself in the most favorable light possible while flattering the other person into giving you their contact information. This approach quickly degenerates into a manipulative exchange where the real identities of both parties rapidly recede into the background, replaced by carefully staged presentations of an artificial self. These staged interactions rarely build trust. In fact, they usually have the opposite effect, putting both parties on guard and reinforcing wariness and very selective disclosure.”

As he points out

Put another way, stop schmoozing and start listening. The corollary for journalists: Stop source-hunting and start discovering.