After getting a pretty positive response to my thread over here:
http://www.socialphobiaworld.com/assignments-23365/
I figured it would be a cool idea to put this thing together thanks to some of the awesome suggestions. Here's how this is going to work... People reply to this thread saying they want to participate, and I'll be putting together a list of people who want to be involved. Also, with your "sign me up" post, feel free to post some suggestions you have for what people could do in order to, well, be more social. Here's kind of what I have in mind for this (example post):
I'm going to keep this thread updated with participants, as well as potential assignments. Once I get together a fairly respectable sized list of people and suggestions, I'm going to put together a little program that will randomly assign each participant an assignment. At that point, I'll update this post with who's been given what.
Now, a few things to keep in mind, and some ground rules.
1) We're using the honor system here. Cheating on an assigment really only means you're cheating yourself out of trying to get past your anxiety.
2) Given that the level of anxiety people experience varies, it would be unfair to expect someone with SEVERE anxiety interacting with strangers to, say, "Introduce yourself to a member of the opposite sex in a public location", so all participants always have the option to PASS after they've been given an assignment. I plan to have more assignments than I do participants, so hopefully even after a couple passes you'll get something that you can do without a complete breakdown. With that in mind, at least consider the possibility of taking steps toward that original assigment, even if it takes a little while.
3) An attempt counts, regardless of outcome. If you made a call to a business and fumbled over your words making yourself feel like an ass, no biggie, you still did your assignment. You don't have to even share the outcome, you can simply post saying "Completed" if you want and I'll update it.
The plan is to do a weekly set of assignments, so if you're not on the current list for assignments, I can have you added for the following week. If this ends up being fairly popular here I think it would be a lot of fun to put together its own little web app/page to make things easier while still showing everyone's status, coupled with maybe links to threads here. I'm thinking to give us a bit of time to compile a nice list of participants as well as potential assignments, people won't be paired up with their assignments until maybe the middle of this coming week (maybe Wednesday?)
Additionally, to sort of step things up slowly, I'd like to keep the first few weeks to online/phone calls and basic in-person stuff. This isn't the pick-up artist, so posting something like "Ask someone you're interested in out on a date" wouldn't really be a great way to start off for folks who are terrified of even saying hello.
So, to start it off, I of course am going to be a participant as well and I've added my first suggestion to the list... I think it would be good to keep this thread open for discussion on assignments too. If something is added but people disagree with it or feel it shouldn't be on the list, nothing is set in stone so things could always be removed as well if they're too easy, too hard, or just seem weird.
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS:
POTENTIAL ASSIGNMENTS:
As an exception to future plans (individual assignments), this first week, everyone's assignment is:
Go outside, go to a coffee shop, drink place (jamba, as an example) or some other place during less busy hours (to prevent line build ups), and ask them what they personally recommend to order. You are to then continue conversation with them as long as possible. You're to then post a summary of your encounter (if comfortable with doing so) and the end result. As someone who deals with SA, I know this is something that can throw myself off balance because their response is not predictable, and not having something prepared to say is very difficult to deal with. You're to then post your results here (if comfortable). If you're not on the list, you're still welcome to give it a shot and let us know how it went. I'll be participating myself tomorrow, probably stumbling over my words and making an ass of myself, which I'll then update here
GOOD LUCK!
http://www.socialphobiaworld.com/assignments-23365/
I figured it would be a cool idea to put this thing together thanks to some of the awesome suggestions. Here's how this is going to work... People reply to this thread saying they want to participate, and I'll be putting together a list of people who want to be involved. Also, with your "sign me up" post, feel free to post some suggestions you have for what people could do in order to, well, be more social. Here's kind of what I have in mind for this (example post):
I'm going to keep this thread updated with participants, as well as potential assignments. Once I get together a fairly respectable sized list of people and suggestions, I'm going to put together a little program that will randomly assign each participant an assignment. At that point, I'll update this post with who's been given what.
Now, a few things to keep in mind, and some ground rules.
1) We're using the honor system here. Cheating on an assigment really only means you're cheating yourself out of trying to get past your anxiety.
2) Given that the level of anxiety people experience varies, it would be unfair to expect someone with SEVERE anxiety interacting with strangers to, say, "Introduce yourself to a member of the opposite sex in a public location", so all participants always have the option to PASS after they've been given an assignment. I plan to have more assignments than I do participants, so hopefully even after a couple passes you'll get something that you can do without a complete breakdown. With that in mind, at least consider the possibility of taking steps toward that original assigment, even if it takes a little while.
3) An attempt counts, regardless of outcome. If you made a call to a business and fumbled over your words making yourself feel like an ass, no biggie, you still did your assignment. You don't have to even share the outcome, you can simply post saying "Completed" if you want and I'll update it.
The plan is to do a weekly set of assignments, so if you're not on the current list for assignments, I can have you added for the following week. If this ends up being fairly popular here I think it would be a lot of fun to put together its own little web app/page to make things easier while still showing everyone's status, coupled with maybe links to threads here. I'm thinking to give us a bit of time to compile a nice list of participants as well as potential assignments, people won't be paired up with their assignments until maybe the middle of this coming week (maybe Wednesday?)
Additionally, to sort of step things up slowly, I'd like to keep the first few weeks to online/phone calls and basic in-person stuff. This isn't the pick-up artist, so posting something like "Ask someone you're interested in out on a date" wouldn't really be a great way to start off for folks who are terrified of even saying hello.
So, to start it off, I of course am going to be a participant as well and I've added my first suggestion to the list... I think it would be good to keep this thread open for discussion on assignments too. If something is added but people disagree with it or feel it shouldn't be on the list, nothing is set in stone so things could always be removed as well if they're too easy, too hard, or just seem weird.
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS:
- scrumblebee
- x_Nil_Painting_x
- Kat
- 206Raider
- DeadHead
- peacegrrl
- Array
POTENTIAL ASSIGNMENTS:
- Join a social network (if you're not already a member) and add five new local people to your friends list
- Ring a dvd store and ask if they’ve got a dvd that you like available
- Invite a friend over to your house
As an exception to future plans (individual assignments), this first week, everyone's assignment is:
Go outside, go to a coffee shop, drink place (jamba, as an example) or some other place during less busy hours (to prevent line build ups), and ask them what they personally recommend to order. You are to then continue conversation with them as long as possible. You're to then post a summary of your encounter (if comfortable with doing so) and the end result. As someone who deals with SA, I know this is something that can throw myself off balance because their response is not predictable, and not having something prepared to say is very difficult to deal with. You're to then post your results here (if comfortable). If you're not on the list, you're still welcome to give it a shot and let us know how it went. I'll be participating myself tomorrow, probably stumbling over my words and making an ass of myself, which I'll then update here
GOOD LUCK!
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