I had never really used it before. I made an account for porn because yeah, and had one a long time ago just for some momentary fandom interaction, but aside from that I never really interacted with the environment in any meaningful way, especially not when it came to more important conversations.

Until the other day when I decided to make a real account just to check things out. I mean, it's one of the biggest social medias in the world, and everyone seems to be on here. So many important figures are here to share their thoughts or make announcements, and so many important topics are discussed. It seemed a bit inefficient to get all my information from there through random screenshots in other places or second hand comments. So why not try it out?

I don't really use social media that much aside from Reddit. And I had heard that Twitter was a "cesspool", but I thought it couldn't be that bad. People on Reddit aren't exactly the greatest either a lot of the time, and I imagined it might be similar over there. And I had TikTok for a while, which was full of terrible and stupid people, but I didn't think it would apply so much to such a different environment.

I thought I had already seen the worst of people on social media and that people were just being a bit dramatic.

Oh my fucking god. What the actual fuck? Guys Twitter is absolutely fucking awful. What in the actual fuck is this?? How is it possible that such a terrible thing and such terrible people exist? Everyone is angry all the time about everything. Everyone is terrible to each other all the time. If you break even once and reply to a single controversial comment or discussion, the algorithm immediately takes note and adapts to keep feeding you more of the same thing.

I tried to engage with some fandom stuff since a lot of shows are releasing episodes now, and it took no time until most of the posts popping up were just people being angry and complaining about what other people are complaining about what other people are complaining about.

I experimented a bit by purposefully engaging with a couple bad posts on more serious social topics, and the amount of insane inhumane delusional stupid nazi racist rapist homophobic mysoginistic and inhuman takes I got fed as a result was absolutely fucking crazy. Everything was terrible on all sides and everyone seemed to treat everyone else as the enemy.

It's full of bots. FULL of bots everywhere. Just tweeting controversy after controversy after controversy for engagement and social manipulation. Spreading malicious links everywhere. Pretending to be real people and feeding into terrible narratives. A lot were very obvious, even if the comments didn't seem to notice, and I'm sure a lot were much better disguised. I'm not even sure if I ever interacted with a real person there.

We're fucked. We're actually so fucked. How is this ok? How is this legal? Why has this continued to be allowed to exist? Between this and TikTok, I'm not surprised in the slightest about why the world is heading in such a terrible direction. This is the worst of humanity all at once with an algorithm that just feeds you more and more of what makes you angriest and what makes you think the worst about everyone around you. If I was stupider and genuinely thought that what I read here represents the general population out in the real world, I would be a neo nazi by now. I can't even imagine how many kids are making accounts on here just like on Tiktok, and having their worldview of other people informed by this. I can't even imagine how many adults are falling for all this too.

We're dead. That's it. We're dead. Someone invented the perfect thing to break society and someone else perfected it and it's here. Humanity is dead. Our social problems will never be fixed and we will only become more and more divided so long as this exists. Anyone who makes the mistake of signing up for these sites and tries to engage with the cultural or political conversation will be manipulated into thinking everyone is the enemy and that everyone is stupid except for you.

I don't understand how this happened. I don't understand how we fix this. I don't understand why nobody seems to feel any sense of panic about any of this. What is wrong with everyone? People talk about this site as if it was just a mildly bad social media where a couple crazy people say some stupid stuff somtiemes. But this is genuinely society breaking. Does genuinely nobody care?

My mom has a bit of a gambling addiction in my opinion. She’s semi retired but works at local farms and is usually paid in cash, a somewhat common practice even if technically illegal.

My mom recently was paid $5,000 in cash but for some reason, it was all paid in $5 bills. She asked for my help in exchanging them for $100 bills. I agree to help and we start heading to the bank but she drives past it at one point. I asked her why she didn’t make her turn and she says that she wants to exchange it at the local casino. She claims that exchanging it at the casino is better as asking the bank to change $5000 worth of $5 bills looks suspicious. Her plan is to take the $5 bills and insert them into a slot machine then hit the “CASH OUT” button so that it prints a voucher. She then will take the voucher to the cashiers cage and ask for $100 bills.

I argue that looks even MORE suspicious but she says it’s fine. We get to the casino and she gives me $1000 and says to only put $500 into each machine and cash them out and bring her the vouchers. I start to do this but I feel uncomfortable so I call my sister who surprisingly defends our mother.

My sister claims that going to the bank and exchanging or depositing an amount that large triggers a report by the bank to the IRS. I look it up and according to Google, the amount is 10k but my sister says Google is wrong and not to believe it.

I finally finish and find my mom and give her the vouchers. I asked where her vouchers are but she says she doesn’t have any and is just straight up gambling with her $5 bills now. After she loses about $1000 we go home and she says she’ll exchange the rest of her money later.

I argue with my mother that this was just her giving herself a reason to go to the casino but she still stands by her belief that it’s more suspicious to go to the bank. When I call my sister again later that night, she says no matter our mom’s reason, to just let her enjoy herself.

Oh well. Any thoughts?

(24M) I live with my parents, and my father always was an overly critical person. I wouldn't say i have daddy issues, bc i don't dislike him nor want him to change. I just wish he wasn't so critical. Actually we love each other, but sometimes he is so critical and demanding at me that i end up feeling a complete piece of shit. Since i was a kid, he would yell at every thing i did wrong. Some toy i let on a different place, if i forgot the TV on, the way i was dressing myself, the way i kempt my hair, if i talked too high or too low. It is the main reason i didn't have that "rebellious phase" ,like other kids and teenagers did. He always was an angry person and if i caused any trouble or didn't behave well, the dragon would wake up and toast me hahahaha. I was never able to hide anything from him. I was in general a well behaved and chill kid, but he made a storm out of every mistake.

I grew up and i'm a wretched pile of insecurities, full of frustrations. My dad is still a controlling person, even though he loves me. Currently, i'm unemployed and studying to tech school. He often come at my room to reprehend me. On how i should have been more "responsible" and bold if i want to be a succesful person. He starts those " your cousin James is younger than you and did this, did that. Smith's daughter is about to buy an apartment. Your school mate ,Carl ,did this. You need to be more". I mean, sir, i did mostly everything you taught me, and it is still bad?! Sometimes his lectures and complaints made me want to be a robot, which he could configure himself the way he likes. Bc i dont know if i would ever reach his expectations.

Yeah so uhh, a few months ago I was in a constant state of never leaving bed basically. I stopped using hair ties as I realized years back that tying my long hair in a bun did not prevent bad knotting at all. So I began using hair clips, which worked pretty decent in comparison if I just twisted my hair up and clipped it.

Well sadly it won't help much at all if you stay in bed and/ or sleeping for weeks at a time (from a depression so deep in still barely poking my head out from it) and hence my hair became unknowingly, and INCREDIBLY matted to the point is yo to my entire scalp, and you might as well call it dreads now. It's so freakiI'mng heart breaking because I've always been really proud of my hair. But it's just gotten so bad I think my best bet is to honestly buzz it off and start over. But I know I'm not going to be able to handle going around anyone or even looking at myself in the mirror , with zero hair.

So my real question is, howI'm can someone life me, a homeless, broke as all hell, and literally nobody to ask besides you good people of the internet, how and where would I even begin to try finding a wig (nothing special or outrageous) to wear while my hair regrows? I have no money to afford one but I highly doubt seeing anyone willing to just give away one? Idk.. is there a/nything anyone can give advice on any of this? Greatly appreciated...

Life is so chaotic and I am literally drained.

The Women’s shelter that me and my baby were staying at had called this morning to let me know that I had mail to pick up since we moved into our new apartment. I got the mail & there was an invitation for my 7 yr old for a Halloween birthday theme on Saturday. I have literally spent every dime I have to just keep a roof over our heads so we don’t end up back into this shelter .

I decided to go to the Goodwill just to see if they had some secondhand costumes she could wear. When did the Goodwill get so expensive too? She has been asking to dress up as a fairy & I had found a pair of pink babydoll slippers in here size there but for $14? I am stumped. I even went to Walmart to just try my luck in finding a cheap puffy skirt & it’s outrageous. I HATE disappointing my baby, but I had to buy my seizure meds & now the regret is kicking in.

She has adjusted to her new school & making friends. I am thankful that she is finally getting past the trauma her father put us through. It was hard enough that she was getting bullied a few weeks ago because we can’t buy the newest clothes or shoes & I handled that situation with her teacher. I take 3 steps forward then get pushed back 10. I know what we are going through now is temporary but it’s hard to just survive.

I see a lot of people complaining about how no one loves them like they love others - but I’m experiencing something I think is worse; I feel like I don’t have love in me to give to others.

At least with the first problem there is hope that you will find someone who reciprocate your love. There is so much love out there and I’m sure you’ll find it. I know cuz I’ve had lots of love around me, but yet I can’t give it back. I don’t feel much anymore. I will never be able to connect to people, and that’s worse than people not appreciating your love. At least you have love in you.

i’m very scared of aging and i feel trapped in my career like i’m going to be very old soon but i still feel like a kid…i’m 26

Hello everyone,

With a sunken heart and a foggy mind, I am writing this post because I feel like I have hit absolute rock bottom. I apologize for any grammatical errors or if something doesn't make sense. I am quite literally numb as I type this out.

• I am a relatively early career CS grad (graduated in late 2023). I previously worked at a fast-paced startup, where I managed to work my way up from software testing to Machine Learning Software Engineering.
• I became fascinated by AI research and decided to pursue it remotely and unpaid at a reputed institute (in hindsight, perhaps out of greed for the opportunity and prestige). I was asked to independently explore research ideas and work towards publishing papers (again, in hindsight, perhaps a red flag).
• We attempted two projects. During the first, I was unfortunately unable to make much progress. After a short break, we decided to try another.
• During the second project, the professor and PhD student were unavailable for meetings for an extended period. I continued working independently, shared updates whenever possible (after a while, my updates were mostly requests to resume meetings as I had no response to technical updates), and managed to come up with two novel algorithms. While waiting for access to compute resources, I also obtained some preliminary results using whatever resources I had available.
• When meetings finally resumed, I was suddenly asked to stop working on the project because I "hadn't implemented anything." I tried explaining and sharing everything I had worked on through emails, but for reasons I still cannot understand, they did not seem particularly interested.
• I now have a career gap of approximately one year. I reached out to my previous startup to see if I could return, but it seems unlikely at this stage.

This experience, while deeply traumatic, has also been eye-opening.

I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my decisions and shortcomings, and I have come to realize that I seem to possess all seven deadly sins in one form or another.

However, I am now completely lost as to what I should do next. It almost feels as though my career is over before it has even properly begun.

• The job market is already difficult, and having a gap of approximately one year only makes things worse.
• I worry that my time spent pursuing research, without a publication, will be viewed negatively by prospective employers.
• I also fear that I have fallen behind my peers, both professionally and technically.

If anyone has gone through something similar, I would be incredibly grateful to hear how you managed to move forward.

I just want to understand whether there is still a realistic path forward and how I might begin rebuilding my career.

Thank you

There's many reasons I'm moving, but I don't want to get too into here. I just feel unsafe in my current living situation. I've been in this house for five years and dealt with a lot of traumatizing situations and poor mental health. This week has been a catalyst of change for me.

I've decided to remove myself from this situation altogether rather than deal with an extremist neighbour. It sucks that it's come to it, but there's only so much bullshit I can handle. I'm so ready for a change. I've realized I just feel trapped in this space because of the cheap rent.

I found a listing the other night and my intuition told me to go for it, sent in my application. Today I went to the viewing and fell in absolute love with the place. Tall ceilings, south facing windows, massive bedroom, claw foot tub. Kitchen is a bit small and limited storage, but it's gorgeous. And right above my favourite bookstore!! Very nice neighbourhood.

The rental agency got back to me this afternoon for some more info and I responded as soon as I could. I'm really hopeful I get it! They just listed the property and I'm the first to view it. The agent showing me the place said it's very rare to get vacancies in the building. I asked for a 24 month lease to show I'm committed. Just so damn excited!

ETA: I got the place! Move in date is Jan 1st!

I hope this isn’t low quality content and if it is, please remove.

But I am standing here in line, at the Employment Insurance office. It’s packed (lots of people out of work) and I tried to let out a little fart 💨.

It sounded like a carpenter slamming a full sheet of plywood down, in an underground parking lot.

In short, it was thunderous.

It also smells, badly.

There is an Asian women behind me. I caught her eyes for a second, they were filled with contempt.

So here I am, typing on Reddit pretending like I dont know what going on.

JFC, it smells like last night casserole dinner.

I knew I hated myself, but didn’t really understand why. Recently I realized that I could just choose not to, and what I was shocked to discover, was the resilience I felt to that. I realized that I enjoy the feeling of caring myself. It’s cathartic, sort of addictive. Like how when you’re a kid with a loose tooth it kinda felt good to press on it even though it hurt. Like this disgusting sort of perverse pleasure in just fucking despising myself. I mean it’s not like I’ve done some horrible thing. I’m not perfect I’ve definitely done things I regret but nothing worth despising someone over. But just hate myself and for some reason, I get some sick pleasure out of it, so I don’t know how to stop, or why I’m like this. Especially because I’ve only ever been given love by my family and everyone in my life. Nobody taught me to be this way. I was never even bullied.

As a guy, I’m genuinely embarrassed by how small my hands and feet are.

My hands are ridiculously tiny, to the point where they look like they stopped growing when I was in third grade. I’m not even exaggerating when I say they look like the hands of an 8-year-old kid.

The worst part is that I’ve never met a single girl whose hands were smaller than mine. It makes me feel weirdly insecure about something I have absolutely no control over.

I know it might sound like a stupid thing to worry about, but it genuinely bothers me. I feel like my hands make me look less masculine, and I can’t help comparing them to everyone else’s.

Are there other guys here with unusually small hands and feet? Does anyone else feel insecure about something like this, or am I just overthinking it?

It's strange how lonely life can feel sometimes. Since yesterday, I've been lost in a daydream I can't seem to shake. I think about it when I lie down, and it's still on my mind when I wake up.

There's a woman. She's a cellist who also plays the flute. We share a home, and together we're finishing a song that was left unfinished. She's carrying our baby. And we're making memories. The kind that, years from now, when our child is all grown up, they'll be able to look back on and say, "So that's how Mom and Dad met."

Well... I imagine us playing our music while our little one sits there listening. I don't know why this particular dream has stayed with me so deeply. Maybe it's just loneliness. Maybe it's the longing for a life I've never had, with someone I've never met. But who knows? Maybe parallel universes really do exist. And maybe, somewhere out there, we're sitting together, finishing that unfinished song. And we're just writing a song of our own with a life together. This gave me an idea that I'll make a song about this, though not sure about its title yet.

3 months ago around the start of June I had a really bad panic attack where it felt like I was dying which was due to lack of nutrients because I was recovering from dental surgery. Ever since then I’ve been dealing with extreme anxiety, shaking, always being on edge, heart palpitations and a whole load of other symptoms. Then I got into a car accident which left me feeling scared. I’ve never felt like this before, before the panic attack I was so normal but now I feel like I’ll never get back to it. Anxiety is eating me alive and I’m always scared of something going wrong with my body or me dying. Ive also become more conscious of my mortality and I’m afraid of death. I’ve gotten checked out for a lot of stuff and i have a heart monitor currently and they’ve said Im fine but I just can’t rest. I’m so tired of it all I just want to go back to normal. Right now I’m feeling a tightness in my stomach and chest. I’m just restless. I don’t have money for therapy but I’m considering it.

I am a group leader and I've been far too considerate with their schedules and comfort.

We have this short film that is due on Monday, last Sunday, I sent the script and told them the date of our shooting which is on Tuesday btw, a member asked if it's okay to shoot on another time, I told them "no, we can't. The school might be closed since we have an educational trip starting from Wednesday to Friday" but when I learned that the school is still open at that time. I made a poll asking for their opinions on what works best for them since they're the actor.

The majority voted for Thursday, so then we moved it to Thursday. Time skip, today is Thursday and a member told me that he might not make it because he's tired from the trip, his muscles hurts. So then I told them

"Are there other actors that can't make it? If not then let's just move the shooting because what's the point? If we're not doing it today then let's just move it tomorrow, but make sure to finish it. Take note: I am not available tomorrow so you'll deal with it on your own."

I have made a lot of adjustments, I have life outside school too, I have more events and responsibilities. This is why I don't want to be a leader, I am far too kind and considerate because I care too much about their grades and comfort, this performance will play a big role in their cards so as much as possible I want us to be complete.

Having different interests and values, another sense of humor, being on the spectrum, having a mental disorder, being friends with toxic people... So many things can happen in relationships that just makes you realize how you don't belong in the room.

Sometimes you're happy but then you spend time with people who just ruin your mood.

If being alone is so bad, then why my mood is better before interacting with others?

People will you make feel lonely, being alone can be daunting but it's honestly freedom from people's opinions and negativity.

I'm 18, and I have a pretty feminine or androgynous voice. I recorded myself, and I kinda sound like a woman with a deep voice or a woman trying to sound like a man lol

I don't know why I don't sound distinctly masculine. I just sound the way I sound, I guess.

I don't really mind it since I'm agender non-binary, so I don't mind if people can't quite tell. But sometimes, it still bothers me a little because people might just assume I'm a woman based on my voice, and I don't want to be perceived as one either.

Back then, it used to bother me more because I felt like my voice wasn't normal, or that it wasn't what a guy was supposed to sound like.

I don’t get how everyone has an idea of what they want to do in their future, what they want to be, know who they truly are.

I don’t understand it because i don’t know what i want to do in the future. I’m lost. I don’t know who i am apart from i know my gender and i like watching movies and youtube videos but that’s it i don’t have many interests like everyone else does.

I’ve never been successful in friendships whenever i tried to make friends they all distance themselves, turn nasty to my face, mentally abuse me, turn behind my back. I stay away from making friends. I don’t have any friends. Because i have given up getting the same treatment all the time whenever someone comes into my life. I’ve never experienced a friendship where they haven’t treated me this way.

I feel empty like my life is empty. Well it is very limited on what i can do because of my health problems that i deal with 24/7 on a daily basis for years now and my health problems are only getting worse.

I’ve never been in a relationship.

I don’t know what it feels like to be cherished, wanted, important in someone’s life, valued and appreciated by someone outside of my family. I wish i knew what it felt like.

As an adult i’m not very good at independence like most people my age. Most people my age can do loads of independent things but i can’t seem to manage that by myself i need someone there with me or to help me out. I wonder how everyone else does successfully by themselves at my age?

I fear going out in public places and public transport alone so i always have someone by my side mostly it is always my family because i have no friends. I haven’t been out the house by myself in years and i have no job because my health problems and my chronic illness.

I worry about my future because i know that i wont be able to rely on my family forever and that is what scares me. How am i going to look after myself? How am i going to manage life all on my own when the time comes? It scares me.

I know that my family cares for me and loves me i’m grateful i have that in my life and i feel blessed that i’m able to experience that.

I see people achieving so many things, living life with a partner, having friends, not having health issues and chronic illness that limits them in life. I feel like i’m missing out and that i’m a total looser.

I don’t know how i’m ever going to turn my life around maybe i will never be able to.

I’ve been feeling stuck and sad everyday for years.

I never have motivation at all i don’t when i last felt motivation. I haven’t felt motivation in years.

I always procrastinate and i can never get myself to achieve anything in life without failing or giving up or being too lazy to achieve anything.

I look and sound like my Dad's clone, but internally we're very different. My mum's side is often said to be a bit spectrum-y and I am a leading example of that. My dad's side on the other hand, very emotional, passionate, full-on people. They feel like a sensory and emotional assault to me a lot of the time. I must seem like an unfeeling robot to them.

It's just sad, cus I don't think my dad's a bad guy, he's just very 'human' in a way I've tried to emulate, but that attempt took every bit of strength I had and ruined me. So I just don't do that anymore. I don't try to be what I'm not.

But it means every interaction my dad and me have is superficial, both of us just trying to avoid a fight. Not the father son relationship I envisioned. I hoped we'd go fishing, play snooker, darts, maybe have some movie nights, like we did when I was a kid/young teen. He just makes excuses when I suggest anything like that.

I had to remind him to say happy birthday to me this year. I may not be the most emotionally expressive person, but that felt not great. I miss who I thought my dad was growing up. He probably misses who he'd hoped I'd become.

Just a shit old situation. Sorry if this ain't the best place to post this, I just wasn't sure and the sub description seemed more or less open to such stuff. If not let me know I'll remove it. Try find somewhere else to post.

For any gamers that haven't seen it yet, Bioware was closed by Electronic Arts after a recent round of layoffs it sounds. Bioware most notably were behind the games, Mass Effect and Dragon Age, amongst others. Sad news for us that grew up playing their games and terrible for those laid off. I can't help but wonder if other studios, for example Maxis, the makers of The Sims, are potentially next.

The Sims is a popular life sim game for those who don't know. The series has been ongoing since the early 90's if I'm correct, with mutliple main line releases. The most recent being The Sims 4, which released in a rough state and is over a decade old now. I'm not gonna attempt to cover the entire history of the Sims 4, plenty of YouTubers have done that. Right now, I'd say that the game is in a okay state, with mixed / negative leaning reviews from the community. Personally, I've clocked over 3000 hours in Sims 4, I also am fortunate to be able to own all the DLC, including some of the maker packs. The game definitely demands digging into your wallet for features that should be included in the base game. I like the game though, even with its flaws.

Anyhow, I'm very curious if EA is still making a profit from Sims 4 and Maxis as a whole. As much hate as Maxis/EA gets, I'd be sad to see Maxis get closed. There's not many games like Sims right now. Inzoi is really the only competition currently, with I think Paralives being a solid 3rd.

I'm a real black sheep in my family.

I lost any connection with them around age 4-5, when I realised the abuse would go on and on, and my childhood was sad, lonely and depressing.

My relationship with my parents has always been money-based: they invested in me hoping I'd pay them back once I got a good job. They love me as a kid but hate me as a person. They never let me joke or show emotion, got mad if I was too happy or too sad, and were furious that I was the least attractive girl in my class, though both have admitted they adore how I'm not like them and that I'm extraordinary.
I share only a few traits with them (my mom's bubbly extroversion, my dad's nerdiness, and the lowkey unhinged humour of both). I was beaten, kicked out many times, and they wanted to give me up for adoption, and I still deal with PTSD five years after moving out for uni. (I was never acting up,honestly, they just couldn’t manipulate would often get at me mad for no reason most of the time).

My uncle cut me off for taking my parents' money, ruined my birthday mood after a joke triggered him, and complained about me to my mom, so I blocked him everywhere, he is dead to me now.
My grandma, never close but always nice, now seems mad or sad around me, and I don't know if it's because she had a stroke-like episode or if she starts to hate me too. My 12-year-old brother is sweet, fits the family perfectly, and is the only one who doesn't seem to hate me, but my parents and uncle tell him I'm selfish, stupid, ugly and a loser, so I think he'll hate me eventually.

I graduated 2-2.5 years ago and still have no stable job. I once worked half a year for free because the owner scammed me, but I needed the portfolio, and it later helped me land freelance gigs, though I've never reached financial independence. For the past year my parents have sent me money for rent and occasionally clothes, which is great, but they really hate me for it. I get that they're mad I still ask for money in my early twenties, but despising me this much is insane, and I have no choice until I find a job. I've applied every day for a year, even for waitressing, and keep getting rejected. I'm tired and don't understand this job market, I can’t land even a waitress job.

As time goes on, I feel more insane.

I hate having no privacy and no space

For my whole life I have had to get used to sharing a tiny tiny bedroom with a horrible rude sister.

At some points i genuinely wanna kill myself because of how stressful it gets

And before anyone says "just move out"

The cost of living is truly horrendous

I just wonder why my parents made me share a bedroom when they can get a 3 bedroomed house since they can afford it.

My bedroom is basically a box and since am autistic I need space to help me calm down but I cant. I can never be at peace and it makes me wanna die