Social Media Made Me Forget How to Be a Friend.

What’s one good thing people often say about you that genuinely makes you happy?
 
Compliments don’t fall out of the sky. 

People give them when they’re moved, when they feel grateful, impressed, or simply warmed by something you did. 

They’re tiny signals of connection.
 
But here’s the thing I keep wondering:

Do you give compliments to your online friends, your family, your partner?

Or do you hold back because it feels cringe, unnecessary, or “too much”?

Or maybe you’ve started taking people’s efforts for granted without even noticing.

Maybe you’re just not very tuned in to other people’s small achievements.

Maybe you’re not naturally expressive.
 
If I’m being honest, I don’t think I show enough gratitude to the people around me.

And I know it makes them feel ignored sometimes.

I haven’t been paying enough attention lately, maybe because I’ve been glued to social media, chasing validation from strangers instead of nurturing the connections right in front of me.

Trying to prove something online while slowly losing touch offline.
 
And yes, I feel guilty about it.
 
But they don’t reach out either.
We all have each other’s numbers, yet no one wants to be the first to text.

No one wants to look needy or desperate for company.

Maybe we’re not as close as we used to be.

Maybe we’re scared of being rejected, or of hearing “sorry, I’m busy,” or of realizing the connection faded without us noticing.

Maybe we’re afraid to share our real lives because we don’t want to be judged.

Or maybe we simply don’t have much to talk about anymore.
 
As an introverted overthinker, I can give you a hundred reasons why I stopped messaging old friends.
And I know every single one of them is basically an excuse.
 
This kind of social pessimism is probably why I’m terrible at maintaining long term friendships.
 
I have a contact list full of names, yet when something goes wrong, I don’t really know who to call, other than my family.
 
Is that loneliness?
Or independence?
Or something in between?
 
Sorry, I’m rambling about myself again.

Maybe I just want to know if anyone else scrolling through this feels the same way.

If this strange emotional distance is something we’re all quietly dealing with.
 
We spend so much time online, posting, building, “networking”, and then wonder why we feel disconnected.
 
We skip the party, skip the coffee catch up, skip the awkward reconnection… and then complain that we’re lonely.
 
I tell myself it’s because I’m building a personal brand.
That my online time is productive.
That I’m networking.
 
But sometimes I wonder if I’m just escaping.
 
Whatever the reason, I’m writing this because I want to feel understood by someone out there, someone who might be feeling the same thing on the other side of the screen.
 
And to answer that original oneliner question:
People often tell me “you’re a good writer.”

And that one always hits home.
 
What’s yours?