Oh, I don't dislike being among others, all the time. I dislike meeting new people a bit, and since "networking" involves meeting as many new people as possible, it's basically a shorthand for the part of social interaction I dislike. :) I'm not "extremely" introverted or anything; it's just that going through recruiters has seemed to be a more pleasant avenue than meeting dozens or hundreds of new people over the same period.

We disagree about pretending, too. Pretending is the quickest way to changing your personality, distasteful as it is in the short term. Want to be more optimistic, happier, more outgoing? Start acting as though you are right now, and you'll move in that direction. Pretending is 80% of social interaction, too, as far as I can see. "Hey, how are you, today?" is, in the vast majority of cases, a pretense of being actually interested in my day. If you want to find out how many people are pretending, answer in detail rather than just saying "Great!" or some such answer. I sometimes answer in detail, anyway, because I forget that virtually everyone else is pretending (or because I'm not paying enough attention to consciously respond correctly), rather than interested, and this almost always ends awkwardly. :)

Do you also do this :

You: "Hello! How are you?"

Someone: "Good! How about you?"

You: "Good! How about you?"

Someone: "...?"

You: "..."

Of course. It's another awkward failure mode, since it becomes unavoidably clear that we're just saying stock phrases. :)

Indeed. I think I only learned how to small-talk and "network" as a parlour trick (like Fry).

Fortunately I am able to form deep and meaningful friendships; anything above an acquaintance level is possible, but requires hard work. Yay introverts. =P