How online queer mutuals helped me combat the teenage well of loneliness
Finding your community – whether online or IRL – can make all the difference. Zoya Raza-Sheikh reflects on how internet friendships helped them navigate their identity.
WORDS BY ZOYA RAZA-SHEIKH HEADER DESIGN BY YOSEF PHELAN You’re not supposed to overshare online, not really.
Growing up with the internet, I often got warned of its dangers: talking to strangers, passing out private information and the frightening permanency of anything I posted.
Still, as a bored teen, I did what most 14-year-olds did at the time – I created a Twitter account. My tech-anxious Asian parents knew the quirks of MSN and kept me off the grid when it came to getting a Facebook account (honestly, I’m glad), but they had no idea about the shiny new beginnings of Twitter and Tumblr.
