Short version:

• 1) I may be online but it doesn’t mean I’m up for DMing.
• 2) Please don’t send me “hi” over and over, or “hello?” when I haven’t responded.
• 3) I don’t mind if you keep sending me videos or ramble in my DM, just understand I can take a long time to reply- even if I’m interacting with you publicly. This doesn’t mean I don’t like you. Instant messaging and social interaction in general can be really difficult for me.

Long version:

• If you've ever tried to DM me you've probably realized I almost always take a long time to respond, even if I'm online or talking to you publicly. I know it can look like I'm ignoring you or some other bad thing but I can almost guarantee you that’s not the case. I don’t have a lot of social energy (energy in general really) and it makes instant messaging extremely exhausting, both physically and mentally. Sometimes when I dedicate myself to it I end up not having the energy to do other things I want to do.
• Sometimes I just want to ramble into the void or make a quick Tweet, but even if I’m “actually” online and interacting with people it doesn’t mean I’m available for DMing. It takes a lot less energy to interact with people publicly than it does privately. This is why I’ll reply to your Tweet quickly, but take days or weeks to reply to your DM. Though sometimes I forget to reply to Tweets too but that’s a different thing.
• Something that really makes a difference for me is if you already have a topic or another thing in mind when you message me. For example, a video you want to show me or you want to tell me about your day or ask me a question, rather than just sending me something like "hello.” I'm sorry if it sounds prissy but when all I get is "hello," I get afraid that I’m gonna have to carry the conversation so I wait to prepare myself but keep putting it off or straight up forget and never reply. Ramble in my DMs all you like but even if you have a topic, please understand that, like I said, sometimes I just don’t feel like instant messaging and I may take a long time to reply. I don’t mind if you ask me “are my messages sending?”, I can usually get myself to reply to things that are urgent.
• Please don't keep sending me "hi" over and over if I haven't already responded, and PLEASE don't send me "hello?" or anything similar. I don’t mind if you ask if your messages are sending but nothing drains me so quickly as those first two things. If you’ve done that in the past, it’s ok, I know I haven’t mentioned any of this to anyone and that’s on me. I’m not trying to make anyone feel bad or push anyone away, but boundaries are apart of any relationship and I need to set mine here because it’s been having a significant impact on my mental health.
• I know all this probably looks like I'm really high maintenance and finicky about who I talk to but that’s not it, I really do love talking to people and I try to be as available as I can but when I have 10+ people in my DMs at once I can get overwhelmed. It's not that it’s annoying, I'm just...really bad at this. I didn’t get the chance to develop these skills growing up so this is all very new to me and I'm learning as I go.
• I realize I can be difficult to befriend or talk to and I understand if this is too much to deal with. I won’t hold it against you if you decide I’m not worth the effort. If you want something clarified I don’t mind you asking. Thank you for reading.