Never able to contribute to group conversations

When I'm with my friends I'm rarely able to contribute to group conversations we're having. It's not like they talk about some niche topics that I don't know about, they literally talk about the most random stuff ever, yet I'm not able to contribute anything towards the conversation. The issue is not because I don't know what they're talking about, more because I just can't think of anything to say. And then when someone does contribute to the conversation, I always think to myself "****, I could have said that!". Because I never contribute I'm also labeled as the quiet guy and that works me up so much.

The couple times that I do say something, it's always ignored because what I said just didn't make much sense or wasn't that meaningful. This is just demoralizing because it makes me feel like I'm socially inept (I am a little socially awkward tbh)

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

(EDIT) I do feel like the reason I'm not able to contribute as much as others is because other people just don't give a **** about what they say, whereas I care too much about what other people will think of me. It's almost like my mind filters everything so I'm left with nothing to say 😭