Online interactions

Post Reply New Topic

Does anyone else find them to be incredibly stressful? I'm also on another forum and someone told me they were being snarky to me, and I keep worrying about what that means and what I said wrong. I feel like because we can't see each other online and it's anonymous, some people feel like it's fine to just say anything to someone and not care about their feelings. I don't know, maybe I'm too sensitive.

When I started using forums I got a lot of anxiety from it, too. Eventually I got used to posting and found it easier to ignore rude people. I think some people use online interactions as a scapegoat for their frustration (which IMO isn't really healthy), so I try to remember that fact and it makes me care a lot less about them being rude, since their behaviour probably isn't due to me actually doing anything wrong and more due to their own issues.

I consider message board forums (like Wrong Planet) to be a lot friendlier than social media like Twitter. Even so, misunderstandings can happen on message boards too.

Here on Wrong Planet, if you want to avoid the kinds of discussions likely to get heated, I would suggest avoiding the "News and Current Events," "Politics, Philosophy, and Religion," and "Love and Dating" (a.k.a. Loathe and Hating) sub-forums. Also, please be sure to read the rules and terms of servide, and be sure also to read the additional rules for some specific sub-forums, in "sticky" threads near the tops of those sub-forums. If anyone says anything nasty to you that appears to be in violation of the rules, don't reply but, instead, report it.

I stopped caring about what other people think or feel when I realized that no one really gives a damn about how I think or feel.  As long as posts are truthful and do not violate any of The Rules, there should be no problem.  And, yes, sometimes people can be too sensitive, so "growing a thicker skin" for them would be a wise move -- it works in face-to-face situations, too.