Socializing on the IndieWeb
It seems I will always make my way back to virtual pet sites. I tend to take a hiatus after hyper-fixating on them for any amount of time and then come back however long later. I got back into it yesterday and have collected many new pets, especially since I'm on about nine or so different sites. My first pet site was Chicken Smoothie some time in 2015. I ended up moving to a new profile in 2016 apparently according to my current profile. The only reason I know I was there since 2015 is because I have more 2015 pets than I've traded for. I didn't get into trading until recent years because I didn't understand the rarity system when it came to trading when I was younger. I think I've gotten the hang of that now at least a little, though I'm still quite the casual player and let people come to me for trades.
I still check in on Chicken Smoothie, do trades, and sometimes or at least partially do events semi-often. In the last few years I've been more so on Xanje which I discovered when making my virtual pet sites masterlist. I love the designs of all the pets and there's so many to get or breed. I have several collections dedicated to different creatures, patterns, or even just themes. I check Xanje quite often for my favorites and interacting with others. Many players have their own adoptables they make themselves and sell on the forums for ingame currencies!
While getting back into virtual pet sites, forums, and such I've realized how I truly feel about social media (Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky, etc). I've always really "liked" social media but not what it truly is. I love the concept I love being able to post almost whatever I want and find people with my interests, if the algorithm isn't obliterated at least. However, I hate the pressure of it. I have internal worries that people will forget about me or not interact with my posts anymore once I come back from any non posting break. It's the social aspect I love and enjoy, I don't like the pressure of losing these people though it really doesn't matter, those who like what I talk about will stay. For the last few days I've barely been posting on my Bluesky and interacting more on forums and my status.cafe. I still use my Bluesky a lot but nowhere near as much as I had been, mostly due to exhaustion. I do enjoy Bluesky much more than other main stream social media though.
Status cafe is quick and easy and the forums feel like I'm interacting much more, though my main forums aren't too active unless I'm on the virtual pet site forums. Unless I'm on my main forums I tend to look at the Xanje forums to see what's going on there. If I'm not doing any of that I'm usually, gaming, doom-scrolling, or doing clicks on the virtual pet sites that work off of clicks. I've been trying to find my energy and what I want to do with myself. I hope at some point soonish I can start streaming and talk to more people about my lesser interests to help spread the word. I'd love to have more friends with personal websites, interact on forums, interact with on pet sites, and more. I have a feeling streaming will be my best outlet for that but for the moment I can't due to living conditions and other things I need so for now just rambling into the void/social media is my best option.
It's interesting having social anxiety yet wanting to be such a social person. I fear people and what they think about me when I shouldn't if they don't like me then they don't like me but it's a thought process I developed growing up. I always felt "different" from the majority of people so I always ended up in small groups of friends with neurodivergent people. I'm still undiagnosed but we're almost certain I'm neurodivergent in some way. Though even though I ended up in these groups when I was a kid I still felt left out for being the only one of my gender at the time in my group. It seems like I was also the "last resort" friend of that group. Then in middle school/high school I got thrown into a group that was maybe partially neruodivergent and mostly neurotypical I think but I'd sit with them just so I wouldn't be alone. Online it's easier to be me because I can actively choose the people I talk to quite easily. It's gotten easier in person but I also don't have the funds to really "go" anywhere to find more people with similar interests. The internet has been my safe space for socializing.
Wanting to be social makes me wish Animal Jam was bigger again and that Club Penguin never went down. Club Penguin I didn't get into/hear of until it was too late really but it was because I spent my "membership" money on an Animal Jam membership. Animal Jam was a huge part of my childhood and I played it constantly. I played Animal Jam for the role-play, making friends, and decorating. I switched to Animal Jam Play Wild for my decorating after I noticed a decline in role-players and just general socializing though I don't play it often. A few years later I loaded Animal Jam Classic just to see the Sarepia Forest basically empty, not a single role-player in sight. Honestly all I see people do now are just trading on both games which is fine but not my thing, and also not what Animal Jam was supposed to be, maybe some day someone will make a game almost exactly like it but heavily improved.
There are other games I can socialize and role-play on still at least. The only thing really holding me back is social anxiety, feeling like I'm too casual of a player to interact with other players, and just not having role-played in a thousand years, I'm very rusty. It's been getting much easier though other than my exhaustion it's just probably going to be a long time before I role-play on anything again.
Anyways though, I hope you have a lovely day/night! Thank you for reading. <3
