BELONGING: How can I deal with feeling left out?

27th April, 2017    |    By  Project Rockit    |     1.8k

In Episode 3 of PROJECT ROCKIT TV, presenters Archie, Lucy and Caitlin explore belonging, how social media can seem super exclusive and how we can take control when we feel left out. There are plenty of answers in this ep, but they’ve come up with three questions they wanted to ask you:


Also check the related topics:  

Bullying Managing friendships

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BELONGING: How can I deal with feeling left out?

What we wanted to do today was answer some frequently asked questions that we get via our social media after working in schools, and we’re going to do that right here, right now. I’ve got Lucy and Arie, so I have written down some of our frequently asked questions, chucked them in my dirty old hat—sorry, everybody—and we are going to answer them one at a time.

Okay, how do you deal with feeling left out? This is actually a question that I get asked heaps in school.

Okay, well, I just remember in Year N there was this one group of people that I would always hang out with, but then I would see that they’d been hanging out on the weekend and that I hadn’t been invited. And this one morning on social media, I saw a post, and it was just a photo of all of them at a party together. I had this moment looking at the photo, thinking, “Why am I trying to hang out with these people who can’t even shoot me an invite?” And I realized that I was trying so hard to fit in that I wasn’t even being myself anymore.

And so for me, I just made a decision to just hang out with a new group of people.

I just remembered that I was at this party quite recently where I looked up and around and I saw every single person in the room taking photos and uploading them and checking in so that all the people they were connected with online would think they’re at this super cool party, having the best time. And I wonder what it would feel like for the people at home watching that. It probably wouldn’t feel that great, but, you know, in reality, the party was so boring because, like, everyone was on their phone.

You know, I often think the people who leave others out are just massively, honestly trying to fit in themselves and be validated.

Totally. It’s like truth bomb. I feel like so many people would be so relieved to hear that. We never talk about that, but I just want to ask, like, what about for the people that don’t necessarily have another group to hang out with, like Archie did?

Right, right. So I think it can be really hard to find your crew at school or just find people that you can fit in with, and I guess sometimes when we don’t, we need to find those people outside of school. And that’s what I think is so amazing about the online world. It doesn’t matter what you’re into, you’re bound to find your tribe online.

Example: last week, I found this bizarre Tumblr community about hotties in history. It’s literally about finding photos of hot historical figures and posting them on Tumblr. I mean, what even is that?

Well, something for me in school was YouTube. Like, YouTube was my absolute savior, because even if I didn’t get along with at school, I would leave and I would watch my favorite channels and then new videos and suddenly watch people speaking about things they could actually relate to. AKA learning Beyoncé choreography—not joking.

And yeah, and that let me connect with other people who were interested in that as well.

Yeah, I think it’s really important to name that we do feel left out sometimes and it does totally suck. But it’s so important to remember that people’s social media, it’s often just a highlight reel, right? Like, people only post the best stuff, like the stuff that they think are going to get the most likes. It’s not necessarily a reflection of, I don’t know, like, how they’re feeling or even where they’re at in life.

Totally. And it’s for that reason that I’ve decided only to follow accounts that make me feel good. And I know that sounds obvious, but there was this one account that would always make me question myself because their posts essentially would just look really cool. And I’d be thinking, well, what I’m doing isn’t as cool or is as good enough. And I know it sounds silly thinking about it now, but since unfollowing that account, it just literally felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders.

Okay, let’s get back to business. Can we please get back on track? We have one final question to ask and answer. So, what do you realize that the word “rocket” in Project Rocket is spelled wrong?

What? No way! Never!

Alright, guys, that’s it from us for now. If you did have any other questions, please send them into us, because we absolutely love getting your questions. And if there is anyone that is feeling left out, just remember you have this crazy crew behind you.

Peace out, guys.

Video by Project Rockit