It's a truth universally acknowledged that a person's online persona has little to do with their real-life personality.However, if your friend's online persona drives you up the wall, it could impact the way you feel about them.
Sarah, 31, finds her bestie's social media obsession hard to handle.
"One of my best friends seems to live her life through social media," she says."Whenever we're out, she's the first to check us in on social media and take a load of selfies together so she can post them."
"Obviously, I love her and want to spend time with her, but it makes you wonder whether she actually wants to hang out or if she just wants something to post on her feed."
To an outsider, the solution seems obvious: talk to her.But that's easier said than done.
As we all know, calling someone out for their behavior is dangerous territory.Erin Vogel, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, suggests changing tack when dealing with the issue.
"Suggesting something like, 'let's both try to not look at our phones for an hour so we can spend some quality time together' sounds less accusatory than 'you're always on social media when we're together and it's really rude', and they may be more receptive to changing their behavior."
"To make matters worse, she does this thing where she talks directly to the camera and narrates what she's doing like 'I'm sorting out my clothes drawer' or 'I'm just heading to meet my friends'," says Sarah.
"I'm like 'why should people care what you're doing?'It's weird to see because when you meet her, she's so down to earth.It's like she's two different people."
While your friend's online presence may be cringe-worthy, unless it's offensive or harmful, the solution could be as straightforward as ignoring it.
"I recommend using the mute features, which block a specific person's posts from your newsfeed without notifying them," says Vogel."That way, you can remain connected with them and not have to see the annoying content."
