In my 30-odd years of life, none of my romantic breakups have affected me quite like when I felt the pain of a friendship breakup. While it was not my fault (trust me), losing Magda and Molly (names changed for privacy) was probably the hardest experience of my life. It's true that people grow apart, but the sudden break in what was once a beautiful and meaningful relationship is always jarring. There really isn't a good rulebook for how to deal with the situation, but that doesn't stop TikTokers and armchair psychologists from trying to showcase their "wisdom" in their ridiculous how-to videos. This past week I saw one such video on my Twitter timeline, but it wasn't due to the fact that the video was actually helpful. Nay, it was - and still is - being roasted.
The video, shared on Twitter by @diligenda, was created by Dr. Arianna Brandolini, and goes by @answeranxiety on TikTok. Despite having a relatively small following on TikTok, it seems her instructional video on how to dissolve a friendship has ruffled a lot of feathers on both apps - and inspired quite a few comparisons to last year's acclaimed The Banshees of Inisherin.
The backlash on both apps seems to have made its way back to the creator, who shared the following video as a response. Unfortunately for her, the damage is already done. Everyone knows that the Internet has a “no backsies” rule.