In the age of the internet, making friends has become more of an online thing. Many more young people are making friends over the web or communicating with their “real-life” friends online. However, this superficial connection behind a screen has also become the cause of many friendship conflicts.
If you’ve recently had a friend group turn against you online, in-person, or both, you may be feeling lost, scared, angry, hurt, betrayed, and confused. Unfortunately, this occurrence is quite common these days. Read on to learn how to deal with a friend group turning against you.
How to Deal With Online Hate Campaigns From Old Friends
If you’re experiencing a falling out with a friend group and have found that they are talking poorly about you online, posting about you, or even encouraging people to bully you, it can feel useless to try to fight back. After all, it’s several people against one.
There are several ways you can deal with these online hate campaigns. Here are a few.
- Block the friends on all social media and anyone who tries to message you about it.
- Try to ignore the urge to look for posts saying mean things about you.
- In your real life, avoid situations where you may come across your old friends.
- Work to get help for the emotional scars left from losing your friends.
- Know your own truth.
- Refuse to interact with anyone who tries to bring it up to get information from you.
- Work on making new and healthier connections.
It can seem impossible to do, but it’s imperative that you try to avoid interacting with the hate campaign in any way. People will use anything you say, including your own defense, against you.
How to Move On
You may be confused about how you got here in the first place. After all, you thought they were your friends. If you’re having trouble moving on, it’s a good idea to talk to a therapist.
A therapist can help you move on, learn about healthy relationships, and figure out what went wrong. In all honesty, however, friendship fallouts are pretty standard. It doesn’t necessarily mean you did anything wrong. If your friend group would rather not have you in their life, it’s their loss.
Instead, work to make healthier friendships by:
- Talking to others who have something in common with you
- Joining a university group
- Inviting an old friend over
- Learning about healthy relationships
Where to Get Help
If you’re ready to get help, we’ve come up with a list of the best areas to look for it. Here are some resources available to you.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT or talk therapy)
- Online therapy
- Journaling
- Write a letter to each of your old friends and burn it
- Express your anger to someone else who is close to you
- Write down your truths in the situation
- Defend yourself to yourself
- Remember situations where your friends have hurt you and why it’s a good thing you are no longer friends
If you want to reconcile with your friend group, or if you’ve done something wrong that has caused the fallout, you can deal with it by learning to genuinely apologize and offer amends. Let them know that you’re sorry, and don’t bring up an excuse for your actions. Just be careful not to apologize if you don’t really need to, just to get your friends back.
Conclusion
Losing friends can be challenging. However, it is sometimes a blessing in disguise. Especially if you have been hurt before by this friend group. If you want to learn more about friendship, check out BetterHelp. They’ve got tons of advice columns on any topic you can dream of.
Marie Miguel Biography
Marie Miguel has been a writing and research expert for nearly a decade, covering a variety of health- related topics. Currently, she is contributing to the expansion and growth of a free online mental health resource with BetterHelp.com. With an interest and dedication to addressing stigmas associated with mental health, she continues to specifically target subjects related to anxiety and depression.