There's a significant difference between how our minds react when being approached vs when approaching others. I don't mind responding to people, especially in an environment where I have a kind of 'power', but approaching others is anxiety-inducing so I tend to avoid it where I can. I still haven't posted on Reddit for this reason despite wanting to and thinking it'd have benefits if I did.
I find the suggestion that using a fake name would remove negative consequences surprising! To use a silly example since I'm genuinely curious of your response, if you were to go out on Halloween, say, in costume, by yourself, such that nobody would recognise you, and for some reason you randomly crapped your pants in front of a group of teenagers, would you go home completely at ease knowing that none of those teens knew your identity?
0
PerfectVanity27~3Y
For me at least, anonymity helps a lot with confidence, since I'm not so much talking as myself but as a fake personality based on myself, and any mistakes I make are part of that personality and not me. A similar process to writing fictional characters, just more serious.
I don't have experience with costumes that would make me unrecognisable, but I imagine it to have similar effects, though maybe not as potent.
1
astralwolf92~3Y
I don't think the reddit comparison is apt. On Reddit there is a non-zero chance that your post or comments will be downvoted, you will receive abusive comments, people will dig through your history.
When talking to a PC store employee, it is literally almost like any other business transaction. It is completely acceptable to ghost and not respond to someone. And there are no incentives or reasons in place to be hostile with one another. And it is very straightforward and dialogue-treey because the same conversation occurs with every customer
I can understand being nervous about posting to Reddit, but the majority of reasons that apply to reddit do not apply to messaging a company when trying to purchase something
I find the suggestion that using a fake name would remove negative consequences surprising! To use a silly example since I'm genuinely curious of your response, if you were to go out on Halloween, say, in costume, by yourself, such that nobody would recognise you, and for some reason you randomly crapped your pants in front of a group of teenagers, would you go home completely at ease knowing that none of those teens knew your identity?
I don't have experience with costumes that would make me unrecognisable, but I imagine it to have similar effects, though maybe not as potent.
When talking to a PC store employee, it is literally almost like any other business transaction. It is completely acceptable to ghost and not respond to someone. And there are no incentives or reasons in place to be hostile with one another. And it is very straightforward and dialogue-treey because the same conversation occurs with every customer
I can understand being nervous about posting to Reddit, but the majority of reasons that apply to reddit do not apply to messaging a company when trying to purchase something