Online chat room anxiety?

[Mehh]

I wasn't sure where to post this- I figured that the shyness forum fit pretty well (I'm not very familiar with the site). Does anyone here ever feel socially anxious even in online situations, like when talking in online chat rooms? I've been feeling particularly lonely lately and have resorted to seeking out online chats, just to talk to other people. The problem I keep having is that I often feel shy and anxious when talking to people in online chats- I feel awkward and afraid to jump into the conversation. It always seems that the people in the chats [despite these sometimes being chats for people with SA/SP] get along very well and seem to be very good friends. I fare well in one-on-one chats, but I always find myself being really shy in group chat rooms. I'm socially anxious in real life, and I'm afraid that I have SA online as well!

Does anyone else here feel that this? Does anybody know of any good chat rooms for people with SA or for someone who is shy in large groups of people?

Also, I'm new here, for the most part. I made this account about a year ago but am just now returning to the site.

 

[DeadmanWalking]

Yeah, I know how you feel. I am aware that SPW has a chatroom, but I don't know the exact web address for it. All I am aware of is that it exists on Mibbit. Maybe ask around on here and see where you can find it. Even on there, I feel nervous about posting things because, most of the time, I have no idea what they're talking about and I don't want to sound like an idiot. Whenever I do know what they're talking about, I just say something, anything really. I let my instincts take over and just type something in and enter it before I get scared. I think it's all about not letting yourself talk yourself out of it.

 

[Azael]

I never used to be so unsure of myself online, in fact for three years I thought of it as being a great substitute that at least kept me using my social skills in a more testing environment. This has sadly not been the case for nearly five years. I struggled to build rapport several times on the chat room here, I found myself, even on a SA site of all places, being ousted strongly to the sidelines. That was quite frustrating to say the least, so I'm not particularly interested in trying these things again to be honest.

 

[Arthur_Dent]

I did had that problem when I was new to the mentioned chat. This is the link:

Mibbit.com Webchat client

IMPORTANT NOTE: This chat has no official relationship at all with this site, is a private creation of some of it members, and it has not the PG-13 regulation of this forum.

If you get in the chat around 5pm-6pm eastern time, there is few people so you can have a nice slow chat appropriated for the situation you described, and it allows you to get to know the frequent chatters. Depending on the day, it may get a bit crowded later than that and if you pop right in the middle of that yes it can be intimidating.

There is always of course this site's chatbox too, but the people who wants to talk there and mentions how lonely is that chat now don't seem to look for a sort of agreement at what hour get together.

 

[JCVA]

Im exactly as you. Its not that Im afraid of the chat itself, its the part where I want to maintain a conversation that is interesting. Over time I shied away from online chats and became less attuned to them =/