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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 25th, 2024

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  • I can’t control my contacts. I can control what I do. I was personally getting annoyed enough with Discord that I uninstalled the thing and stopped visiting it on the web. My account still exists AFAIK. I didn’t make a big production of it nor tell anyone; I simply left.

    It was a bit of a sacrifice because I don’t connect with an extremely rewarding community on there as much anymore. Thankfully they still host IRL meetups and I do go to those.

    I’m opinionated about messaging apps but I don’t try to convince anyone. Well, other than siblings and SOs. People who want to talk to me can find me on the apps I do hang out in. If they ask why I’m not on the big ones I will gladly tell them. But where they end up is their decision, not mine.









  • I’m already terrible at socializing

    Practice. What helped me is to accept the reality of small talk. I used to hate it. I stopped being so invested in conversations. I still try to listen, and ask questions, and be interested, and all that. But it’s OK to talk about the weather or mundane stuff like that, keep things light, walk away when it’s natural, and forget about things. Not be so invested.

    Appreciate and integrate the difference between small talk and deep philosophical conversation. They are both important and both have their place. Small talk comes naturally to extroverts. Introverts (me) have to work a little harder at it.

    it’s especially difficult for me to create genuine friendships with women because I can’t help thinking of them as “possible future partners” (or some bullshit like that)

    Folks may not like this, but if they’re “possible future partners” then they’re not genuine friendships. They’re dating prospects. It’s fine to be interested in dating women, but as soon as you have an inkling of interest, ask them out on a date. Say the word date. If they say no, respect that, and accept that they are not available as potential future partners. You want your choices to be respected. Respect the choices of others. Asking people out is hard. I know. So is being rejected. I know. That’s life.

    I would like to feel more comfortable with my singleness

    Once you achieve that comfort, you will become more attractive. I think this is another matter of practice. Go do fun things by yourself! Things that you want to do! Eat out, go to the movies, travel. Not so much to meet other people but because you find fulfillment in those activities for their own sake.

    while forging more non-romantic relationships with other people.

    Make small talk with folks you are not attracted to. This takes a bit of the edge off and it helps with the practice. Their insight and opinions are just as valuable as those of the folks you’re attracted to.




  • Desktop: Debian testing (Linux)
    Mobile: The Pixel flavor of Android

    I’m simply more comfortable in Linux. It is a hacker’s OS. I feel like I have full control over it and it stays out of the way. I find GNOME pretty polished and cohesive. It has come a long way.

    On a fateful day years and years ago I sat and deliberated between Android and iOS. I picked Android because it works much better with Linux. I have stuck with it ever since.



  • How so? Folks who care about decentralization can use the menu, no? A common theme in the comments is that most users do not care about decentralization and don’t want to have to pick a server. All that scares them away to centralized platforms like Bluesky and Threads. Even a big centralized fediverse server is better than yet another walled garden they can’t easily migrate off of.