This is probably obvious to most but man:
When you’re going to randomly message someone you’re not close with, make sure you have something to talk about.
Don’t just go “hi, what’s up”, and expect a good conversation to happen.
I’ma reblog this again cause the comments in here are ridiculous to the point of being comedy.
People are acting like the only two ways to start a conversation is an empty “Hi, sup?” and posting an entire 8 paragraph communist manifesto.
Like, if you’re messaging someone you don’t know, is it really that hard to have a conversation topic in mind before doing so? If not, why do you feel the need to message that person in particular considering you’re not close to them?
If it’s someone you venerate (e.g. a popular artist or something), instead of asking them a ‘hi, sup’ that they probably get at LEAST once daily from strangers, try asking about something of theirs that genuinely interests you, or something you think they’d be interested in, or talk about something they did that you liked or thought was funny. Or ask them for their thoughts on something that concerns you particularly. These are all things that wind up involving both parties.
Don’t initialize a conversation with someone you don’t know then dump the full responsibility of continuing it on them. I don’t think a lot of reblogs complaining about anxiety understand the irony here–if you feel you’re not good at conversing, consider the person you’re talking to might also feel that way about themselves. Even if the person you’re talking to doesn’t get anxious at suddenly having to hold up a conversation, you’re banking on them having something to talk about right then and there. Most the time that’s going to be a pretty boring conversation. If you’re the one making contact, you at least have the advantage of choosing how the conversation starts.