I became visible online too young and now I don’t know how to exist privately

I used to be a content creator back in 2020to21. I started when I was 17, in high school (11th standard), making cultural content about my state, traditional dances, culture, local information, etc. At that age, I suddenly got a lot of attention online very quickly, but also a lot of unnecessary trolling and negativity that I was honestly too young to handle emotionally.
At my peak, I had around 80k followers on Instagram and 300k on TikTok before everything slowly shut down because of burnout, trolling, personal issues, and life becoming too overwhelming. After that, I completely disappeared from social media for years.
I also went through a lot in my personal life during this period I joined graduation in 2022, and in university I was suddenly recognized by real people for my online presence. I had never experienced that before. Some people even mocked me because of old trolling. In the middle of all this, I met a guy and started a relationship, but after about a year he left and ghosted me. After that, I became more angry and emotionally overwhelmed, and I feel like I slowly lost the ability to behave normally or calmly with people. Over time, I also became agnostic.
Recently in 2026, I started posting again privately and some of my videos unexpectedly went viral. People still remembered me after 5 years, and honestly it affected me emotionally more than I expected. It made me realize how deeply my identity became attached to being "seen" online at a very young age.
Now I feel stuck in a weird cycle where:
I constantly feel the need to stay presentable or interesting

I feel pressure to post updates even when my real life feels messy

I want privacy but also do not want to disappear

I compare my real life to the version of me people remember

Every time I stop posting, I feel irrelevant

Another thing I have noticed is that even in real life, especially in my hometown, I constantly feel like people are watching me or perceiving me somehow. I always feel the need to stand out, look put together, or appear a certain way. At the same time, I also deeply want privacy and invisibility. It is like I want to be seen, but not fully accessed.
I think part of it is because I became publicly visible at a very young age while still forming my identity, and another part of it is probably perfectionism. I do not know how to explain it properly, but I feel mentally "observed" all the time even when nobody is actually paying attention.
At the same time, I am 23, confused about career, masters, life, emotionally exhausted, financially dependent, and trying to figure myself out like everyone else. But social media makes me feel like I always have to look like I am thriving.
I also noticed that rejection or silence online affects me emotionally way more than it should, especially after difficult relationships and emotional burnout over the years.
I wanted to ask:
Have any former creators, influencers, or content creators experienced this identity confusion after stepping away from social media? Did you also struggle with constantly feeling perceived in public even after leaving social media? How did you rebuild a healthier relationship with posting, validation, identity, and real life?
I do not necessarily want to quit creating. I just do not want my selfworth to depend on being perceived anymore.

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