Friendly teasing and playful rudeness is common among friendships. You and your friend both know that despite all the jabs and roasts, you don’t really mean what you’re saying because it’s all jokes made in good fun. 

But when it comes to strangers, or people you aren’t that close to or familiar with, these jokes are usually unwanted. It’s important to be considerate of people around you; this is a concept we’ve been taught since we were in elementary school. Whether it’s by using your inside voice or minding your own business, we are brought up to be considerate. 

Being overly familiar with people you barely know or those that do not see the relationship between you close enough to do so, is the exact opposite of being considerate. Social media plays a big role in this, because it’s incredibly hard to determine someone’s tone or use of sarcasm through a few words on the screen. This can lead to people taking it seriously to heart and leaving very little room to squeeze out of the situation by saying it was just a joke. 

We roast and tease people on the internet all of the time, unaware of how these words may affect them or possibly other people because we find it funny, and while that may be the case for a lot of people, there are a lot of other people who don’t really vibe with that. Social media in general has caused some people to not have a sense of boundaries, causing them to breach these boundaries in real life. 

Not everyone is your friend.

Not everyone knows you. 

Not everyone is comfortable or familiar with your humor. 

It’s incredibly selfish to be upset by people being uncomfortable with or angered by how you treat them. If your idea of making friends is by hitting them, making fun of them, yelling at them, or really performing any action that can be considered rude, then I insist that you find another method. 

Most people try to make friends by introducing themselves and talking about their shared interests or something–not by acting like you’ve known them forever when you had only just met the several minutes ago. Consider if what you intend to say to a potential new friend could possibly be interpreted as negative in any way, and if it is, find something else to say or don’t say anything at all.