Why Do I Not Want To Have IRL Friends

For as long as I can remember, I’ve never really wanted to have friends in real life. It’s not that I dislike people, I can be friendly when I need to, but the idea of maintaining real-life friendships feels exhausting and distracting to me. I'd much rather work on my own projects and focus on my goals. Whenever I try to have IRL friends, it just feels like it pulls me away from what I actually want to be doing.

Weirdly enough, I have no problem making online friends. I enjoy playing games and talking online, but those friendships feel different, lighter, less demanding. There’s no expectation that I have to constantly meet up, spend hours together, or maintain appearances.

Has anyone else experienced this? Why might someone feel totally fine with online friends but avoid real-life friendships altogether? I’m trying to understand if there’s a deeper reason behind it.