Internet Anxiety

This is probably a new one but for the past few years, I've had this overwhelming anxiety when posting on the internet, out of fear that I'm going to get flamed. I used to view the internet as a bit of an escape but that's changed as of late. As a result, I don't usually post a lot on the forums I visit and rarely make my opinions heard out of fear that they'll be unpopular. I have a very thin skin and I don't react to criticism very well. My question is does anybody else get this and what do you do about it?

Memories said:

This is probably a new one but for the past few years, I've had this overwhelming anxiety when posting on the internet, out of fear that I'm going to get flamed. I used to view the internet as a bit of an escape but that's changed as of late. As a result, I don't usually post a lot on the forums I visit and rarely make my opinions heard out of fear that they'll be unpopular. I have a very thin skin and I don't react to criticism very well. My question is does anybody else get this and what do you do about it?

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I can relate to what you are saying. I don't like confrontation and the internet is well know as a place where everything can and will be argued about. Normally things are ok but if I get very upset and sort of snap and post something on a thread that I know will get people in an uproar, I will then avoid that site for a while. Sometimes a few hours and sometimes a week or more.

Memories said:

This is probably a new one but for the past few years, I've had this overwhelming anxiety when posting on the internet, out of fear that I'm going to get flamed. I used to view the internet as a bit of an escape but that's changed as of late. As a result, I don't usually post a lot on the forums I visit and rarely make my opinions heard out of fear that they'll be unpopular. I have a very thin skin and I don't react to criticism very well. My question is does anybody else get this and what do you do about it?

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Hey Sean. I haven't had this but I can relate through what I've experienced in life in the past. It just takes to develop a tougher skin I guess. Believe in yourself man.

Memories said:

I have a very thin skin and I don't react to criticism very well. My question is does anybody else get this and what do you do about it?

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Well you know your problem, so maybe it's something you can work towards to change.

Have you been on many other forums? I have, and they're different to this place, there's less trolls, people are more mature (mostly), your posts are taken seriously and I think there's more activity and willingness to respond to people's posts here.

If you've had bad experiences on other forums, it could have sparked this, maybe spend more time around here and try and kill off your anxieties before you won't be able to post at all.

Good luck!

Flamers are just wanna-be tough guys (or girls) who don't have an original thought in their tiny little brains and seek attention through negativity. Their criticism/opinions shouldn't be worth a moments thought. It can be kind of fun to wind them up if you're in the mood for it- you know they're angry when sentence structure, spelling errors, and the use of many colourful metaphors are hastily posted.

I am this way with facebook. My fear of being judged in real life carries over to the internet and I don't feel I have anything to share with anyone and am afraid to like things I like since it might be unpopular or something. As far as forums, I belong to only one other forum and there I don't have any trouble posting due to the anonymity. So, I guess I just have this problem when it involves people I know in real life seeing it. Sorry can't be of any help, but I know you're not alone.

smbd4smn said:

I am this way with facebook. My fear of being judged in real life carries over to the internet and I don't feel I have anything to share with anyone and am afraid to like things I like since it might be unpopular or something.

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I suppose the thing that sparked it...a few years ago, my then-gf was getting ripped to shreds by some posters on another forum and I stuck up for her. I got ripped to shreds too. I'd say that definitely contributed to my fear of posting on the internet.

Once i heard from my therapist that when you simply run away from your problem that problem gets you somewhere else. Example i used to be anxious so bad before, and i was running away and evading school for months and i was all fine without any problems and than after a while i started being anxious while posting threads(Always thinking that someone will insult me,put me down,ignore me), gaming, chating on skype and so.

^ That makes sense. I've never heard that before, but it does make sense.

As far as internet anxiety, I feel anxious communicating over Facebook, but not over forums. If that gets to be a problem...that's a problem.

I used to be bothered by it, but the more I balanced their opinions with the opinions of others the less it mattered. It's one person who may not know anything at all about the subject, they can't affect anything in my life unless I take them seriously, and I can just click away.