General Discussion

Both oh my god. But if I had to choose probably irl. I'm not very outgoing with people I don't know very well, so it's really hard for me to just randomly walk up to a person that seems cool and be like "Hey, you're cool lets hang out more!" My self-esteem is also very low, lately whenever I make advances to make new friends, or hang out with new people i'm ghosted.

it used to be easier for me to make friends online when i was a teen, but now i MUCH prefer irl interactions - it stresses me out when i don't get the visual information of people's facial expressions and auditory feedback/tones. typed words really miss so much context and it's so easy to be misunderstood.

not to mention, the way people present themselves with their fashion/posture/e.t.c. tells me a lot about whether or not we will get along, so it can save time when i am deciding whether or not to get close to someone.

Irl interactions make me stressed-typing on a screen is easier

both, just in different ways. irl and online have their own pros and cons and limitations. i have bad anxiety and talking and interacting with people online induces that as much as talking to someone face to face. it's not even necessarily negative feelings, i just freak out and can't handle whenever someone sends me a message or something even if it's something that makes me happy. it's not like that all the time but it happens often enough to be a problem. the benefit of online interaction, though, is that i can take more time to think about what i'm gonna say and i don't need to worry about fumbling over my words like i tend to do irl. and i just like having time to process a message or comment from someone. it makes the interaction more special, and i can go back and read it at any time. something that just can't be done with an irl interaction.

something i do like about irl is that it supports my way of speaking better. i have a very train-of-thought way of talking and it just works better when i'm actually speaking. but i don't like talking to people, especially strangers, because i don't like my voice for Reasons and i have low self-esteem soooo it's far from great for me personally.

i have a lot of issues and they get in the way of me befriending people and talking at all and talking is exhausting and uncomfortable i also just don't know how to make friends period (and i don't have any) and it all just makes me want to morph into a little ball and roll away from life. but what can ya do. *shrug emoji*

anywayys i like this thread the responses are all really interesting

Online is easier because:
1. You're talking to strangers, usually it doesn't matter about making an impression
2. You get to personalise your profile/blogs however you like
3. Anonymity

I guess it's easier for me IRL because I've never made a new friend online. But, I'm terrible at making friends IRL, too.

I, too, hate Discord. It's such a pain. And I had a bad experience with it the second time I ever tried it. The people on the server were so elitist and automatically assumed I was stupid/didn't read the rules.

I get more respect IRL than online, easily. Online, people tend to either completely ignore me or treat me like I'm stupid.

Irl oh my gods, its so easy to express myself online but the second i get to socializing irl i will clam up my palms will sweat and i s w e a r on my life i start to lose my voice

real life scary, oomfies over the internet simple and comf

both. but in real life mostly because i feel like i have to be a good friend to everyone and not just a casual acquaintance. it’s super hard for me to keep any long lasting relationships with people other than my online best friend i’ve had for 7+ years and my two highschool bsfs :,)

They're both awful in different ways.

irl I have to worry about how I look. Is what I'm wearing appropriate, is my hair okay, are my facial expressions correct, what about my body language? Can people tell how nervous I am and is that off putting people who would otherwise be friendly with me? Am I talking over people by accident, or not talking enough because I'm nervous? Am I looking at my phone too much? And then when I'm done I always just feel so drained like I want to sleep forever.

Online I obviously don't have those problems, but at the same time text tone is hard to indicate so I have other problems like is my tone coming across okay? Am I using too many emojis, or the right emoji? Should I use an emoji or just leave it? Interpreting the text of other people's text is hard too, and if people don't respond right away it's hard to contain the anxiety of are they ignoring me, did they go afk for some reason, did I say something wrong, ect. But it generally doesn't leave me as drained as irl interactions as an upside.

So like yeah, idk they're both kinda bad but I feel like online is better just because I can do it without feeling like I want to pass out.