Reddit user Niceboihappy, one of the moderators at r/sadcringe, told Bored Panda that the community has seen an increase in members since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the mod also pointed out that the subreddit is always growing in size. And the more members there are, the stronger the community becomes.

Niceboihappy also shared some advice about what to do if you receive bad news or an unexpected response. "I would say be confident, but not too confident. And, especially, for an unexpected response it is probably best to just own it and make light of it."

The Sad Cringe subreddit is practically ancient. It was created back in 2013 and now boasts over 882k members (that’s way more than I could count to). So what does this community of nearly-a-million do, exactly? Well, it’s dedicated to collecting examples of the most embarrassing and awkward situations that also make you feel sad inside.

In other words, content that’s just cringeworthy isn’t worth a spot on r/sadcringe if it’s missing the ‘sad’ part. The community guidelines indicate that “pathetic loser sad” content doesn’t work and that the responses have to be “unhappy/depressing sad.”

“The content should make you go: ’oof, that hurts,’ not: ‘lol, what a moron,’” the moderators point out. They also stress that they’re not here to make fun of people. Which is why they ask everyone to avoid bullying and harassment. “Be nice,” they add.

There will always be times when we’re caught completely off-guard by bits of news or responses from people. However, there are ways to bounce back and make the best of a bad situation.

LinkedIn Learning Instructor Tatiana Kolovou states that when we’re faced with bad news, we tend to react emotionally. So what you want to do is allow that initial emotional reaction to pass by giving yourself some time to process things.

“Calm yourself. Take a deep breath. Possibly look away momentarily to try and focus your thoughts. Exhale deeply. All these behaviors will help you bring your elevated heart rate down and physically center you,” Kolovou explains how to get yourself under control again. Keep that in mind the next time life throws a curveball at you and you might just hit a home run.