I hate that

when I'm talking to people ~online, whether it's in real time or in a message or email, it's really hard to convey sympathy or interest. I hate that when someone's telling me about something, I can't nod encouragingly and say "Mmm" and make eye contact to show that I'm interested in what they have to say. I have to spell it out, and it always rings false in my head, even though I mean it sincerely. And I hate that when someone's telling me something and I want to show them that I can relate to what they're saying, I can't nod emphatically and gesture and look at the person. I have to say "I get it" or "I feel that" or something equally as weak. And sometimes I feel like I have to give an example of a similar experience of my own to back that up. And I hate doing that, to me it always sounds like I'm trying to make whatever the person's talking about, about me, but I'm not! I just don't want them to think I'm just going along, or saying that I understand with no qualification for it, and ughhhh. It's really fucking hard to be a good listener online without seeming self-interested and I feel like I fail at it all the time and it makes me paranoid and self-conscious. I hate the internet sometimes. I like words and all but I hate having to rely on them so heavily for communication, because there's so much more to it than that, and I frequently feel like something important gets lost and I hate that. Hate hate hate.

/rant