Are you throwing some serious shade at other people?
We put our heads together here at Ditch the Label to make this list of twelve shady behaviours that people do online which they definitely wouldn’t do IRL.
We’re all guilty of at least a couple of the points on this list! But if you’re doing them all on the regular, then maybe consider… not doing them?!
1. Stalking people
Following someone around online is for some reason considered more ok than doing it in real life. It’s illegal to stalk someone in real life – but that doesn’t mean you can do it online instead!
When you stalk someone online, you’re literally following them around their online hangouts. It’s like trailing your crush from coffee shop to coffee shop until they finally acknowledge your existence! (that’s real dodgy).
So what to do instead? Give their profile a break, do something different, take a bath, listen to a podcast or watch some YouTube videos.
2. Judging people
Social media is a breeding ground for bitchiness and judgery isn’t it. We can’t all ’t pretend like we don’t judge people on their Insta photos or who’s in their profile pics! 😉
It’s hard to break out of the cycle of judging other people, but understand that not only is everything on social media crafted to look a certain way and a highlight reel of their lives (Insta Lie!), but it’s also only a very small part of somebody’s life. They could have hobbies and interests that they don’t photo on their Snapchat that make them much more interesting people.
3. Comparing ourselves to others based on their social media activity
“she has like 140k followers so she must be really successful and happy…”
As we were saying above, social media is a highlight reel of somebody’s life. It isn’t a realistic view of somebody’s life, but only the positive, fun and most entertaining moments.
Life is unfortunately filled with ups and downs, we all have bad days. So don’t worry if you see somebody having the absolutely best time every single time. It’s not real.
4. Looking way back through someone’s old photos
And accidentally hitting ‘like’ on one from 2015 😱. Come on, we’ve all done it and *cringe*.
5. Snooping at your crush’s exes online.
This is not a good thing to do, especially when you accidentally add them or like something on their page. Srsly guys, don’t risk it! Also, don’t judge a person on their ex-partners, they’re exes for a reason!
6. When you walk past someone you have as a contact on WhatsApp but don’t even acknowledge their existence…
But you know all about their holiday last month and ‘liked’ their last profile pic. That’s a bit odd.
7. Deliberately not ‘liking’ a friend’s good news because you fell out last week.
This is sooo passive aggressive. If you’re annoyed at a mate – talk it out!
If you need help with talking it out, check out this guide on conflict resolution!
8. Schadenfreude.
A word which only exists in the German language and roughly translates as, ‘pleasure derived from the misfortune of others’.
Enough said.
9. Unfriending someone because you didn’t like their face in that last selfie they posted.
C’mon guys, you’re better than this.
10. Logging in to your mate’s Instagram and posting a story saying, ‘I love poop’
OK, bad example – depending on the situation this can be funny – but also kinda risky. You don’t know who’s got their super-grump of an aunt on their friend list who would NOT be amused by something a little more risque or rude!
11. Heavily editing every single photo you put online.
So, the occasional Snapchat or TikTok filter is fine from time to time or the occasional moody Insta effect but honestly – you’re great as you are, don’t obsess over the way your skin looks! Embrace that double chin, love that pimple – own it!
If you like this article, check out our awesome video Online Dating vs Reality…
12. Deliberately not opening a message so you don’t have to reply.
We’ve all done it, the old classic ‘I’ll deal with that later’ trick, which really doesn’t work these days since most of us are glued to our smartphones 24/7!
Although, we all need to remember that sometimes you may feel as if you need to do this for your own mental health.
So, if you’re guilty of any of these, try to stop. Exist in real time and use the glorious internet for what it was intended: cats and Netflix. Don’t forget to post your online pet peeves in our anonymous forum…
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