Since it was released, I have been hearing quite a bit about this new social network called “Plurk.” Initially I put off joining as I didn’t want to have to interact with people to build another network of friends. Finally yesterday I decided to join and see what all of the hype was about. Initially I started out with the one person I could find that I in my friends list on nearly every social network. From there it began to expand. I was reading plurks, commenting and having a blast. Before long, the anxiety I had experienced that had previously kept me from participating in other social networks had disappeared. I soon realized, that if designed right, social networks could contribute to my quest of reducing my social anxiety.
The Downfalls
Before I get into how social networking can help your social anxiety I want to make it very clear that if you don’t use caution, it could actually slow your progress. While social networking can help build communication and social skills, it may be very easy for some people to allow it to become their social life. If you rely on the anonymity of talking to people online to avoid dealing with your real world problem, you problem will likely become worse. That isn’t why you’re here, so don’t let it happen.
Getting Started
The first thing you need to do is decide which site you wish to network on. I would recommend Plurk because it seems to be the most social site of all of the networks I belong to. I invite you all to join, and friend me (SociallyDistressed) as that will give you a starting point. Once you have joined, if you didn’t friend me, you’re first task will be to find people you know to network with. If you friend me (click here), you already have a decent starting point. From there you can either post your own plurks, find more people to friend or fan, and start networking.
How Can This Help?
There are many reasons this can help. It provides a great medium for working on your social skills. There are always conversations that you can jump in on, and you can start your own. Depending on how much anxiety you experience while talking to people online, this will may also provide some useful systematic desensitization.
Come, join me, and let’s have a blast!
1 comments:
As a personal experience I go on different kind of social networks. And yes partly it helps me somewhat on developing my social interaction . But then it depends on sites.
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