Complete Articles List

Below is a directory of all the site's articles on getting over social awkwardness, shyness, loneliness, and other interpersonal problems. There's a lot of stuff here so two tips:

Don't get overwhelmed and feel you have to read everything. You probably don't. Just go through the stuff that seems relevant to your issues. Everyone who visits this site is going to have different things they want advice on, so not every article is going to apply to them either.

Even if you think you'd like to read a lot of the articles, don't feel you have to start at the beginning and read everything in order. If you do that you may get bored before getting to the stuff you're mainly here for. Again, I think it's better to just skip around and read the pieces that seem the most related to what you want to accomplish.

Miscellaneous Introductory Stuff

How the site came about, some of the philosophies behind it, and some background information on social skills.

The Idea of Changing

Many people will be coming to this site with a bunch of social changes they want to make. Other readers are more wary about the idea of having to change to do better socially. The concept may make them think of things like conforming and selling out, or having to change more about themselves than they'd like. There aren't any single, neat answers for this issue, but these articles explore it from a number of perspectives.

The Three General Philosophies Towards Changing

The Being True To Yourself Approach to Changing
The Pragmatic Adaptation Approach To Changing
The Truly Trying To Change Yourself Approach To Changing

Some Other Issues That The Idea Of Changing Raises

Changing Your Social Skills vs. Changing Your Entire Personality
What's a Social Difference And What's A Social Weakness?
Are Certain Social Traits Changeable Or Not?
For Any Trait Keep The Good Parts And Toss The Bad
Pragmatic Motivations People Have For Improving Their Social Skills
Social Skills Are Ultimately Subjective
Social Skills Are Very Nice To Have But Ultimately Optional
It's Very Tricky To Know What You Want Socially
Ideas That Can Excuse Not Working On Your Social Weaknesses

The Process of Improving

These articles are about the overall process of improving your social skills. You won't find any specific tips on topics like making conversation here. If you see improving your social skills as a long road, these articles will give you some insights about what to expect on the way.

Time Required

How Long Does It Take To Get Past Your Social Problems?
There's No Quick, Effortless Way To Fix Your Social Problems

Some Central Principles of Improving

Why You Need To Directly Practice Social Skills And How To Do It
Indirectly Become More Successful By Improving As A Person
Overall Attitudes That Will Help You Improve Your People Skills

Trouble Getting Started

Overcoming Laziness Towards Working On Your Social Problems
Are You Fully Ready To Change Your Social Problems?
Some Reasons People May Put Off Applying This Site's Advice

What to Expect

Stages You Can Go Through As You Improve Your Social Skills
How Socializing Can Get Easier And Harder As You Grow Older
Times You Feel Unusually 'On' In Social Situations
Having A Realistic Idea Of The Effects Of Fixing Your Social Problems

Thoughts On Some Types Of Advice

Social Skills And Self-Help Advice I'm Not Crazy About
"Epiphany Addiction"
Attitudes Towards Socializing That Are Easier Said Than Done
How to Win Friends and Influence People Isn't A Complete Guide

Moods and Thinking

There are a lot of articles here. They all share the common theme of being related to unpleasant emotional states, like anxiety or sadness, or negative types of thinking such as feeling self-conscious, insecure, and unconfident.

Shyness and Social Anxiety

Shyness
Common Worries Shy Or Insecure People Have
Social Anxiety Disorder / Social Phobia

Anxiety

The Nature Of Anxiety
Overall Attitudes For Handling Anxiety
Coping With Anxiety In The Moment
Coping With Nervousness Before An Unavoidable Social Situation
Coping With Nervousness Before Optional Social Behaviors
Coping With Panic Attacks

Facing Your Fears

A Giant List Of Common Social Fears
Why It's Essential To Face Your Social Fears
How To Face Your Social Fears (Gradually)
Factors That Impact How Certain Fears Need To Be Tackled

Negative Mood

Depression
Lifestyle Changes That Can Improve Mood

Negative Thoughts

Cognitive Distortions
Challenging Negative Thoughts
Accepting And Rolling With Negative Thoughts

Confidence

Observations On Becoming More Self-Confident
Some Ideas For Handling Low Self-Esteem And Insecurities
The Link Between Social Skills And Self-Confidence

Social Skills

These articles, which cover a ton of categories, are about actual skills and knowledge that can improve your social success.

Making Friends

How to Make Friends And Get A Social Life
How To Meet People
How To Make A Group Of Friends
Mistakes Lonely People Often Make
Improving Your Social Prospects Before You Try Meeting Anyone
Is It Okay To Hang Out With Another Guy One On One?
Hanging Out With New People Who All Know Each Other

Making Friends In Specific Situations

How To Make Friends In College Or University
How To Make Friends In A New City / After University

Friendship Problems

When Your Life Circumstances Interfere With Your Social Life
Problems You Can Have While Trying To Make Friends In College
When People Don't Seem Interested In Starting Friendships With You
When You Feel Like A Second Tier Member Of Your Social Group
When You Feel Like Your Social Circle Is Indifferent To You
When You Feel Like Your Group Of Friends Could Be Better
When Your Friends Tease You A Lot

Making Plans

Making Plans With People
Inviting Yourself To Social Events
Things To Do With Other People

Planning Problems

Worries People Often Have About Making Friends And Plans
When Friends Are Always Late Or Unreliable
Ways People Can Unintentionally Leave Friends Out Of Social Events

Conversation

How To Be Less Quiet And Think Of Things To Say In Conversations
Thoughts On How To Make Conversation
How To Do Better In Loud, Crazy Group Conversations
Listening And Being Interested In People Isn't A Cure-All
Some Thoughts On The Point Of Small Talk
On The Spot vs. Lower Pressure Conversations
When People Say "How's It Going?", "What's Up?" or "What's New?"

Being More Fun And Friendly

How To Be More Friendly And Social
How To Be More Fun
Regular Logical Mode vs. Fun Partying Mode In Social Interactions

Knowledge & Lifestyle

Factors That Can Boost Your Social Success Quite Quickly
How Your Interests Can Affect Your Social Success
At Times It's Practical To Know Things Other People Care About
How Traveling/Backpacking Can Boost Your Social Skills
Lifestyle Factors That Can Affect Your Social Success
Reading More Can Indirectly Boost Your Social Success

More General Concepts

Loosen Up To Be More Socially Successful
The Importance Of Simplicity And The Basics In Social Interactions

Broader Skills

Thoughts On How To Be Funny
How To Dance - For Average Guys And Girls
Thoughts On How To Be More Interesting

Non-Verbal Communication

The Importance of Getting Your Appearance In Order
Learning To Make More Eye Contact With People

Psychology

Some Ways People Are Mentally Lazy About Judging Others

Socializing in Certain Environments

The Challenges Of Socializing At An Office Job
Ways People In High School Can Work On Their Social Skills

Technology And Socializing

A Bunch Of Social Issues Related To Texting

Advice Geared More Towards Men

When You're A Guy Who Has Trouble Relating To Other Guys

Advice Geared More Towards Women

Inside The Mind Of Guys Who Are Shy With Women

Getting Drained By Socializing

When You Easily Get Drained And Tired In Social Situations
Reasons People May Feel Drained While Socializing

Negative Attitudes Towards Certain Things

Little Social Annoyances That Will Never Go Away
Other People Often Aren't As Shallow As They Seem
Bars And Clubs Aren't All Bad
It's Fine If You Don't Drink, But Don't Be Too Against The Idea Of It

Things That Can Make You Seem More Socially Awkward

Social Mistakes Intellectual People Can Make
Reasons Someone May See You As Weird
How Being Less Naturally Social Can Affect Your Success
Being Guarded, Secretive, And Defensive
Is Thinking You're Better Than Other People Holding You Back?
Being Too Negative
Being Less Naive And Innocent And Getting More Of An Edge
Feeling Overly Intimidated By Certain Types Of People

Substances And Socializing

Ways To Get Away With Not Drinking In Social Situations
Alcohol, Drugs, And Socializing

Issues That Get More Relevant As Your Skills Improve

When People Don't Notice You've Improved
Some Things That May Happen As You Get Better Social Skills
Talking To Shyer, Quieter, Or Less Social People
Dealing With Regrets Caused By Your Poor People Skills

Not Fitting Into The Norm

One broad social problem area people experience is that they don't match up the social norm, and that causes all kinds of difficulties for them.

When Your Main Social Problem Is That You Don't Fit In
Getting Away With Doing Your Own Thing Socially
Bitterness About Being Socially Misunderstood

Being Less Naturally Social

It's Okay Not To Be As Sociable As Other People
Stereotypes About Less Social People

Developmental Differences

Some social skills problems arise from inborn differences in how people's brains are wired.

Asperger's Syndrome / High-Functioning Autism
Ways People With Asperger's Syndrome Can Improve Socially
Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities

Miscellaneous

A few random articles that aren't super heavy on advice, and which share my thoughts and reflections on some things. You may find them interesting to read, even if they're not ultra helpful.

How I Naturally Became Less Obsessive About Video Games
How The Type Of Advice Someone Can Give Can Change Over Time