What's worse? being an outside or being labeled as a "loner"

[estelle85]

I know they both basically mean the same thing..but a "loner" is a person with no friends and an "outsider" is a person who can have friends? but goes around group to group trying to fit in right..?

So which one is worse??

[starblob]

An outsider is someone who is excluded from groups/communities. A loner is one who avoids the company of others. I think being an outsider would be more of a negative label. An outsider is pushed away by people for whatever reason, but a loner isn't pushed away by anyone, they just avoid people. In that regard i think the loner has a better chance of actually making friends (if they wanted to), since they are not actually excluded by people.

[Zarrix]

Loner has harsher connotations IMO, an outsider is someone who simply stays on the edges of society, avoids large gatherings and the like, but still has some friends. I consider myself an outsider, one on the very very outside. A loner is someone who doesn't have any friends, but it is usually by choice. Whether they simply preferred to be by themselves without any negative influence is another matter all together however. I picture myself as a loner when I get older


But to think about it, which sounds harsher

Johnny, stop being such a loner
OR
Johnny, stop being an outsider?

case dismissed XD

[IllusionOfHappiness]

Meh, it's all the same. They both suck equally.

[llj]

I don't mind being labelled a loner. When you're trying hard and still can't get in, the real label is "loser." You can accept being a loner, or even an outsider, but you don't want to be labelled a "loser."

I think I'm mostly a loner, in that I don't NEED other people to keep myself content, but I'm a bit of a loser in that I can't go out and get friends anytime I want.

[HoboQueen]

Well to me it seems as though an outsider is a social outcast while a loner deliberately takes themselves out of the picture. I don't think it's the same thing but I suppose it can overlap. Neither label bothers me. It has no bearing on my worth. It's just a description.