Life of an anxious person on social media
Social media replacing face-to-face interaction is now less of a speculated issue as people started accepting this as a way of life. However, this controversial invasion of social media has redefined some real-life struggles people face. While obsessive dependency on social media and social anxiety are real issues youths deal with nowadays, I'll focus on the latter for now. That being said, this article is written to help you better understand the struggles of a socially anxious person or even help you relate to it if you're one yourself. Without further ado, here are a few incidents you may deal with on a daily basis.
To post or not to post, that is the question.
Suppose you're scrolling through your news feed and you come across yet another well-crafted meme but as you opt to click on the share button, the inevitable voice start buzzing in your head again.
"What if this annoys people?", "What if they don't like it?", "They'll think you're seeking attention!"
The voice was always there but you're yet to get accustomed to it. Like every other time, you give in and click the cancel button.
Do you even comment? I don't.
You see people throwing in humongous clusters of words which Facebook ever so conveniently tags as a comment. You try reading a few of them but soon find yourself zoning out into an imaginary quest for finding the answer to the pressing question - "Why comment when you can react?"
Yes, it's the doing of the voice again. It keeps driving you away from social norms more efficiently than Miley Cyrus ever could.
You zone back in with no renewed will to continue reading so you move over to the like button and react accordingly.
You can't see me.
You see your rather extroverted friend post new profile pictures on a regular basis and wonder if now's the time for you to finally give in and remove your Googled anime wallpaper and add that one picture you had taken last year in your skiing trip.
You personally knock most of your friends and ask them to make the decision for you. After getting all the green lights you wait for that voice to reply you again because according to you, the vote needs to be unanimous (of course).
"It's summer now silly. You should wait till winter." It finally replies.
You log out with mixed feelings of distress and relief.
Some stories are better left untold.
As a result of stories taking over almost all major networking sites, you find it hard to reject the fact the apocalypse isn't nearing. The concept of posting your day-to-day activities was unfathomable enough but the feature allowing you to see who viewed them is downright outrageous.
Soon after it gets too much to bear, you realize it's time to get away from the virtual realities of these sites. You uninstall all the apps, one after the other and breathe a sigh of relief.
You wait for the voice to comment on your task.
No answer.
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