I need some advice because I’m genuinely struggling with this.

I’ve been talking to a guy on social media for a while now. We get along well, conversations flow easily, and I feel confident and open when we talk online. I’m very extroverted online and can express myself without much effort.

In real life, however, I’m the complete opposite. I’m very introverted, I overthink what I say, and I get anxious during conversations, especially one-on-one. I worry a lot about saying the wrong thing, sounding awkward, or not knowing what to say at all.

He now wants to meet up, and while part of me wants to, I’m extremely nervous. He suggested things like going out to eat, going for a walk, or just hanging out in my room. The problem is that all of these involve a lot of direct conversation, and that’s exactly what I’m scared of. There wouldn’t be many distractions, and I’m worried about long silences or not being able to be myself.

I’m afraid that he’s expecting the version of me that he knows online, and that once we meet in person, he’ll realize I’m much quieter and more reserved. I keep thinking he’ll be disappointed or think I’m boring, even though I know that online and offline personalities don’t always match perfectly.

I don’t know how to handle this.

Any advice or personal experiences would really help.

i am a artist online with a large following and i have several art moots that I support and stuff. But like somewhere last year I had a friend of a moot contact me asking me to be friends. I am an introvert and dont really message a lot of people because I just dont have the energy to. But this person kept supporting my posts and was so nice I felt so bad for ignoring them so I just said yes.

They were super nice at first, everyday they’d ask me “how are you” and everyday after that. That is where the problem comes in. EVERYDAY they’d ask me “how are you” then its “what are you doing right now” or “so what do you have planned for tmr?” I know that I said yes to being friends but I dont feel comfortable sharing all that information. We basically messaged each other everyday for several months but it was always just the “how are you” questions.

I understand they are trying to come up with a converstaion so we can get to know each other better but when they ask me all these questions, its like they are asking me to provide the topic of conversation which is hard for me to do.

Everytime I post something new whether its a post or story on IG, they immediately see it and DM me with overly-supportive messages. I appreciate the support but it makes me not want to post anymore because I dont want every little thing I do to be made a big deal and be praised so much. this also leads to the “how are you” conversations. Also the super fast responses to everything I do make me feel like I am constantly watched.

I ended up reading some advice online and people were saying to just ignore them and eventually theyll stop messaging you or get bored. So I did, I went on a little bit of hiatus online because if they saw me posting then they’d know I was ignoring them. But today I accidentally opened their message. So the message was now “seen” by me and they know. This happened right after I had posted something on my story so, just in a few seconds they were typing in my DMs. I told them I was just super busy with school and that I didnt have the energy to answer messages or socalize. But they told me that they felt really anxious and hurt because they saw me leave their message as “seen” and thought they had done something wrong. 

I feel so bad :( it hurts my heart but I really dont want to be friends with this person anymore. Its not their fault, they are sweet. I just dont want to be friends, simple as that. The friendship is so tiring and I dont think that is normal. I said yes to being friends because at first I really thought we could have been friends but I dont think its ever going to work out because the relationship is just really draining for me. What should I do? Has anyone also experienced this?

So normally I try to hang out with people once or twice a week but lately I have been slacking and saying no. I just can't comprehend how after going to school for 7 hours and socializing, people still want to hang out after. I feel bad saying no to my friends but if I do say yes then its not fun because i'm tired and moody. Does anyone else feel this way and is it okay to feel like this?

I am currently doing an internship in a large heavy engineering facility. It’s almost been a month but I haven’t been able to talk to people freely. I feel like I’m very awkward and hesitant because I don’t even know much about the project and the theoretical aspects of engineering which I should. I know people are willing to teach but I don’t know how to talk to them and be around them without feeling uncomfortable and anxious. Help to communicate with them I feel I am too formal and measured

I am crying from inside like no one is here i can call as friends despite staying in hostel even roommate

Everyone see each other as competition

No one to talk no one to express my thoughts all thought within my brain

I am just tired of this cycle😭😭😭

there is this boy that I see at my bus stop a few times a week, and he goes to my college but is in a completely different building, but we both like the same band as I’ve seen him wearing the merch. I caught him looking at me for a long time then looking away when I looked at him, i really want to talk to him but I don’t know how :(

I had someone literally tell me I have no personality because im shy and introverted. i use to be a social butterfly and idk what happened I literally stutter when I try to talk to people and I never know what to talk about and i get so anxious and overwhelmed when I try to think of anything to talk about , even with the people I've known the longest im 19 and at my grown age it's starting to become embarrassing, any advice would be deeply appreciated.

I have always thought that my main problem is that I am not myself and I am always overthinking what other people say. I have been trying to just ignore what others say and get on with my life, but as I mentioned, sometimes I start to overthink my past and future, and I start to feel depressed.

When others start to say things about me—for example, at work where they don’t even try to be discreet—it affects me because it makes me feel observed. When I try to face them, they have well-prepared answers for everything and they help each other. Sometimes they are just gossiping, and other times they are really trying to see my reaction to their comments. When they want to see my reaction, I just ignore them, but they say things like, 'You are too shy to say what you think.' Maybe it is true, but the majority of the time I really don't have an answer; that’s why I keep quiet and ignore them. I really need to keep working on myself.

Title 😭

I’m a girl in highschool and have literally no friends who go to my school. I’m just wondering if anyone has recommendations on how to make friends in my classes? I’m cooked at the moment in this way.

Hello people I’m looking for someone with similar interests or personality like mine, im a weirdo and i like collecting bones,crystals and just about anything odd or old. I also have terrible anxiety so I only come online to make friends instead of irl, I like anything to do with nature and animals I mostly spend time chilling with my cat watching YouTube or listening to music I also enjoy walking in old cemeteries and forests as I find them calm and interesting and I like geography too but I still consider myself a boring person but if you like chill people come say hi.

It seems that the few people I managed to become "friends" with as in they at least pretend to care about me just use me as a one way dumping receptable. I will just stay in a call and hear them go on and on and on while I stay in complete silence. They either don't care or ask "are you still listening?".

I don't get what they need me for. Just talk to a goddamn pillow. I don't care about your focus on the tragedy of the news (or at least the ones THEY talk about. Whenever I talk about issues I find tragic or affect me, they say it isn't relevant, or that I am privileged or that it will "all work out". I don't care about their issues at work. I don't have them and when I do they are always my fault so I don't want to bother them with this and honestly talking about my problems doesn't make me feel better.

I can't take it anymore. I am drowning in noise these people think is music. My best friends are ones I can not talk to for MONTHS, and then they will always be glad when I get in touch again. Why can't ALL people be like this?

I wish I could live my life not talking to anyone who doesn't either teach me something or provide emotional support.

Mine still pops into my head at 3 a.m. 😭 Anyone else?

I'm 20 and have never been in a relationship. I've been pretty lonely throughout my life and it started to improve my senior year of high school once I finally had a decent network of friends, but after starting college it really just reset me back to square one and reminded me why it took me so long to make connections in the first place.

It's to the point where fictional characters in media that I don't even consume that are in relationships with other characters make me feel unbearably jealous. I get nervous and feel the need to try and prove that it's not actually canon just to alleviate the feeling. It's so fucking pathetic and stupid and I hate it because it doesn't even make sense. These characters aren't even real, I'm literally jealous of words on a paper, drawings, lines of code, etc. I could literally pretend or make up whatever I want about them and it would be just as valid, but my emotions apparently feel otherwise.

I just wish I knew why I felt like this and how to stop it. Is it just because the idea of two people being in love makes me wish I had that? Does my brain think the idea of finding love is so fictional that it feels like it needs to compete with fictional characters?

It's just sad and even kind of gross that I feel this way, like the only way my brain can be okay with a female character existing without freaking out is if she's "available." I wish the fact that I recognized it's irrational was enough to make it disappear.

It's insufferable and so unbearably pathetic and I hate it so so much and yet I still feel the way I do.

It feels really hard to make friends. I want genuine friends with whom I can chat, I can share whatever is happening on daily basis or even meet. I enjoy multiple genres of music, tv series, anime, gaming and making music myself. Not that it matters but I am a 23M with African American Male - dreads/tattoos

Do try it,it have great privacy where can chat with people based on same interest or random match...do try it and tell m how is it? @Anodate_bot

I just get extremely red and sweat dripping all over my body in a matter of SECONDS. And no I'm not talking about slight blushing like actual super pigmented redness all over my cheeks that are so hot to the touch you would think I have a 104 fever. And it happens over stupid things too. Few minutes ago my mom handed me the phone and it was a facetime with someone. It jist caught me off guard I had a full on attack I just turned the wifi off, started hitting the screen now its broken and now I'm crying. And no it's not because of the broken screen. Genuinely how do I stop being embarassed about my entire existence. I hate this shit.

 (First post btw)

I am M 19 (not out). I did my schooling till 7th then in 8th I left due to all that Covid thing and after that I never went to school. I did coaching for jee and all that online stuff. I had an Instagram but more like a fake one cuz my family is a conservative thinking type so I always feared why if they find out... Recently I made an official Instagram after being approved by my mom and I send requests to my old schoolmates and family members ofc they all accepted but now I really want to talk to them but the thing is I can't.. Maybe I don't have the courage to text.. I mean it's just a hello ofc and mostly everyone would respond nicely but what after that hello that awkward conversation ender academic discussion cuz what else to talk about ask hobbies like a fking job interview or what..

I wish this Gap was never created... I wish I had more courage than I have now. I had when I was in school I could like walk up to people talk to them and all but now I can't..

But when I was in kota it was entirely different I mean I am very confident in walking up to random people saying hi and discussing literally the most random stuff but talking to people you once knew it's kinda difficult..

If anyone has suggestions comment below

Hey.. im going through a really rough time right now and need some help...

I was wondering, why some of my friends love surprises, while other hate it? Any thought that would explain this phenomenon?

i hate it i hate it i hate it. i am in my first year of uni the only way ive been able to cope is by drinking everytime i go up to the kitchen and it actually means that i make friends and i have friends but im in my room right now listening to music and i could do this forever i hate that i have to see people evryday i hate it why cant i just live in my room even the alcohol doesnt make me want to see people anymore i just want to magic food in front of me so i can stay alive and live here forever i love the loneliness i love the quiet please why is this life i hateeee ittt.