I look at people a lot

2 comments

1. I’m not the one to give advice for social skills… but I feel like that’s a very good thing? People appreciate being seen and acknowledged. Eye contact during conversation is a sign of understanding and is very helpful in communication. I wish I could do those things more!

2. So I do this too and quite often because I tend to get a sense of people around me. Like I face-gaze for a bit to place the person in my head (like categorize – friendly/approachable/decent/interesting/no-go/creep whatever etc). I think sometimes I might make someone uncomfortable, but most of the time it’s okay I guess. I think there is a difference between “looking” and staring. Looking is fine, glancing is fine, staring for an extended period, especially when you don’t know them will definitely make people uncomfortable.

   One suggestion I got from this sub which I started using a couple of months back and which worked tremendously well for me is to maintain a soft smile. I cannot find the post but in the post they also mentioned to practice or at least see how your soft smile looks in the mirror because for some people it’s creepy lol. The best way to bring a good soft smile that has worked for me is not to force it, but actually to think of something nice/pleasant while walking, sitting in a public place. It made people smile back and look at me more while crossing them on a sidewalk, even when I was looking down or forward and not at them.