Reflections on a previous post

Since I wrote my last-but-one post regarding Twitter and networking, I have been trying to work out what it is that makes me feel so uncomfortable. Today, I think I finally cracked it. In the past, when I've got some extra experience in a specialty or been involved in an audit or research project, it's always been because I've sent an email or approached someone involved. I'm not used to people offering to help me out, and I feel a little guilty about accepting. I'm pretty sure that this is what made me feel so awkward about meeting up with people I'd met via Twitter - it actually had nothing to do with the medium on which we'd first communicated. It was all that *they* had suggested meeting, *they* offered to help me get extra experience. I think that's where the feeling of cheating comes from. With other "extra" stuff I've done, it's because I've approached people and asked, so any benefit I get is "deserved" - I've "earned" it be being pro-active and asking if can get involved. In this scenario, totally new to me, I am potentially benefitting purely from the right people having heard/seen things I've said. So, I've worked out just what my crazy mind is worrying about. Now to try and make it stop...