Ain't that some shit, right? People say like "try playing multiplayer games, you love gaming!" Yeah except gaming spaces are like, often particularly hostile and unwelcoming?
And I always end up with a clinger... I'm very much an introvert, and I want to be alone pretty often, but I really don't like saying no to people that are just looking to have fun so I get incredibly stressed with multiplayer games... I'm not an interesting person and I often have no desire to say anything, but then you're just sitting there on voice coms but completely quiet... Even more stressful...
Last time I gave someone I didn't know a shot was helldiver's and I was never able to play solo again... So I just stopped playing.
Facts. It's hard to balance my desire for both interaction and autonomy with my compassion for others seeking the same thing, but when it begins to encroach on my autonomy and sense of freedom I find it a quickly stifling feeling.
As someone who has had the same kind of thoughts, please don't think like that, it's not helpful at all. You're more interesting than you give yourself credit for.
I can strike up a conversation with most strangers in real life pretty easily.
But online? There’s almost zero context. Even something as simple as the weather makes a load of difference for the small talk that can develop into richer conversations later.
Online social anxiety, especially forums like this one where you get a grade (the upvote/downvote), is very understandable.
Just speculating, the upvote/downvote does help a user know what is expected behavior and some understanding to build from.
It also provides a rich incentive to post because “number go up” feels good.
I’d love to know YouTube’s data on hiding the dislike button. It wasn’t great for viewers, but it may have had an effect on creator satisfaction. But I don’t know for sure.
Kind of weird how that works - no problems posting stupid shit online, but that hesitation to start a new game such as online chess because what if the social interaction....
It took me months of playing lichess alone to work up the courage to play it online. Now, years later, I'm able to sometimes send messages during games
when i used to play games that required coop to get certain items id often sit for long whiles hovering over the search for teammates button, online social anxiety is real shit. nowadays its better but i still cant do mh coop in fear of being too bad