5 Comments

meek

some cliche advice for you! : /

mshersk

Shawn, this is a remarkable vlog. I'm not sure you realize that there are hundreds, even thousands, of people on this site who feel exactly the same as you -- and only by revealing it, by being authentic, do you help them confront their own fears and sadness.

You have graciously offered to help us with our technical problems on the site. I have a different, analogous favor to ask of you. Please think about what we can do to help more people reveal their truest selves on quarterlife. For instance, if members could use an alias, would they be more likely to reveal things that they've kept hidden? Is there a value to having different levels of friends, who would have different levels of access to your uploads? Of, for instance, what would happen if we asked if we could promote your video? Would that be embarrassing or would it make you feel good? There are many questions along these lines -- we've been thinking about this for some time, but would like to get other perspectives.
Thank you!
Marshall

brianbunnell

i think the best way to make friends on this site is to do just what you are doing here: talk about what you want to talk about, and your friends will find you. the real world is a bit trickier... i think that, to make other people comfortable, you have to be kind of "average" at first, and slowly bring out the parts that are more you as you get closer to a person. but still, if you talk about what you are interested it, people who like you will stick around. and the people who don't want to stick around are the people who you don't want to stick around. some people are destined to have a lot of friends, and some people are destined to have a few, but very close, friends... i also have few friends, but i like it that way.

faeriel

Thank you for the nice comment Shawn. I am struggling as to what kind of advice I can give on this subject. I think it is very hard to keep friends around me as well. It is hard to be motivated about them when you are sad and don't want to bring people down. I can relate. I don't know what it is you say that you think scares people away, but maybe it's about knowing the right time and place to say things. Or prefacing what you want to say with "I don't know how this will make you feel but I need to talk about it" or something. That's the great thing about Quarterlife. You can share whatever you want! :c)

Wordlings

You're in a tough spot. You're going to have to fight to get out of it. Your yearning to make the world a better place, to help people -- put that to work for people like you, people who are in your situation. They need someone like you who's been through that and who's got the guts to agitate for change. See if you can hook up with some health activists and make a difference. :)