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Instant Messaging For Introverts
adamengst tips an article up on TidBITS that explores the persistent reluctance of many nerds to embrace fully new communications media such as IM and Twitter. In this thoughtful article Joe Kissell explores, from the inside, the mind of the introvert and how this personality style often struggles with new "always-on" media. The result is a sometimes exasperated incomprehension on the part of the more extroverted. Well worth a read.
was about the most boring thing I've ever read. I couldn't bring myself to read the second half; perhaps it was more interesting.
NEWSFLASH! Some people don't like IM! Film at 11. *yawn*. Bring on the pink ponies.
Yeah? Well I think you're overrated too.
Twitter and things like that add useless noise to the Web 2.0. Who's sick of some idiot twittering what they're up to all the time and drowning out all the more thoughtful status updates on Facebook? I don't think even extroverts want to know what everyone is thinking or doing all the time, for fear of realizing how dilute their thoughts really are... it's like those really noiesy couples that talk all the time, but if you ever listen in they're talking about jack all and it deteriorates into whining.
Actually maybe I shouldn't have been so extroverted as to post this. Alright everyone, let's not post at all in protest of extroversion...
Wait, so you mean the name isn't an explicit metaphor likening its users to mindless birds, sharing every tiny, half-formed thought that crosses their pea-sized brain to everyone within ear-shot?
And because I don't want to hear it, they're trying to frame this as something wrong with me?
I definitely recognise myself in the article's description: I generally write 2 or 3 versions of an email before finally sending it and I really don't get on with IM-style communication.
The problem I find with IM at work is that some people use it instead of doing their own research. I frequently get IM'd work questions that could have been solved with 1 google search or 30 seconds with the source tree and grep. Instead, because it's so easy, they interrupt me.
Have fun "getting things done" while life passes you by. A virtual life is a fine replacement for a real life, but you have to communicate somewhere or you're living out some phychological damage or something...
The reverse may be true. While the majority of the population is amusing themselves online the introverts will be off in their corners reading their books without fear of interruption.
If they don't listen, that's what the block button is for. Pretty much all of the current generation IM systems have it.
I am trolling
What part of "building an app, family..." is a virtual life?
If "Real life" is my ex-girlfriend wanting to tell me about last night's "American Idol" party or My brother ranting about the Giants'/Yankees' performance... yeah, I have no problem letting those pass me by.
Don't assume that because something involves another ugly bag of mostly water, that it is somehow worthwhile. I find that, short of sex and wii bowling, that is rarely the case.
You may not like it, thse IM pop-ps may be annoying, but it beats answering the phone. At least with IM, I can interact with the person when I feel like it and/or have time. With the stupid phone, it's the other way around.
Yes, I believe the telephone is productivity's worst enemy.
I had occasion to leave the cube a while back and spend a few days working around a conference table with a bunch of other folks in a very busy environment, the control room of a very large conference with thousands of people from all around the country.
My tablemates were utterly confounded that I had no IMs, one of my cell phones was often off with an outgoing message of "I don't pick up these messages, so don't bother", that I never sent any text messages, that I used an old-school one-way pager, and that I actually checked incoming email "only" every couple of hours or so. They thought I was a complete neanderthal. Yet I was the IT guy for the conference. In fact, I had been specifically requested by the head of the planning team; he had worked with me before and valued not just my willingness to work long and hard but my ability to communicate face-to-face with the hordes of hyper managers and executives who inevitably showed up with work-stopping computer problem and have to be "handled" properly while they get their problems fixed.
I got the assignment mostly because I was seen as a good communicator. Yet the entire rest of his staff (who I met for the first time at this event) thought I was nuts to be so out of touch.
I've never thought that avoiding distractions and interruptions made for poor communication. Indeed, my attitude is quite the opposite. It also seems to be increasingly rare these days.
Odd. To me, this is really, really odd.
And yes, I am strongly introverted.
Introverts have a high level of cortical stimulation, they dont _need_ external events to stimulate them, they like quite time.
Extroverts have a low level of cortical stimulation, they need external events to stimulate their tiny^W minds, leave them in a quite room (or a library) for a few hours and they go crazy.
I expect extroverts would enjoy having people call them and give their brain something to do.
More to the point : what could possibly be more important than paying attention to the people you're with ?
And what could possibly be more rude than to temporarily ignore them to accept an interruption ?
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Very true, and I think nerds are the worst at recognizing this. All those people who spend hours on WoW, leading guilds, doing raids, and conversing over VOIP with their team are most likely NOT introverts, even if society makes them feel that way.
I truly am an introvert, which is why I can't play such games (I'm more of a Si, and prefer to only use asynchronous forms of communication for everything. All these "sociable" nerds, however, are likely not introverted.. just "first world" shy!
I didn't read TFA, but I still think I can provide some interesting insights.
First of all, I have my own reasons for not wanting to use certain "new" communication methods.
A particularly strong one is resentment. Many "new" communication methods do the same thing
that existing methods do, only worse. For example, the new method might be technically inferior
because they use the wrong tool for the job, they might be limiting because they only allow
certain types of use, where the existing tools were more flexible, or they might use proprietary
protocols where the existing tools used open protocols.
I don't like it when the new, inferior solution gets hugely popular, and then people think I'm weird
for not wanting to participate. It is they who didn't participate in the existing system when it was
there - and it is _because_ they jumped on the bandwagon of the new, incompatible system that this
is even an issue. If people had stuck with the existing system, or if the new system had been
compatible with the old system, or if the new system had been so much better that users of the old
system all jumpd ship, there wouldn't have been any issue.
For some reason, people don't understand this. They just expect me to sign up with the cool, new thing,
or be left out. Not that they would be willing to try the existing, old thing...why jump through
all the hoops to start using this thing that nobody else uses, when all it will do is give you _two_
accounts that you have to maintain and all that? I understand that point very well, of course,
the more because it is often the exact same situation _I_ am faced with!
Sometimes, I quit bitching and just sign up already. I, too, want to stay in touch with friends,
after all. Sometimes, I moan and rant until people get so annoyed they never bring up the
subject again. And, on rare occassions, I actually manage to convince them that my way is really
better. But, usually, it's a lost cause. Once enough people have started using the new system,
there is no going back, because they are locked in. And me, I just feel like a grumpy, old, bearded
hacker who thinks he knows better than everyone else - but all he's ever accomplished is
alienating himself from many who might otherwise have been his friends.
But hey, it's not all gloom and doom! I have a job that I love, where I get to use Debian and work
with open source all day, and people actually appreciate my insights. Because, in business, you
may stay afloat by doing the same thing as everybody else...but you only _really_ win by being
_better_. And no, I don't have the illusion that my ideas are always the best - but, I try hard
to make them as good as they can be, and sometimes, that leads to new insights that improve things
for everyone. That is something that really makes me a _happy_ bearded hacker.
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
My friends: "What do you mean, you don't want to go out for drinks?"
Me: "I mean, I had a rough week, and I'm entirely wiped out."
Friends: "Exactly, that's why you should come out to a noisy social environment where you can be surrounded by random strangers who want your attention."
Me: *shudder* Alright, but only if you can get me drunk enough to deal within 5 minutes of arrival.
Friends: Deal!
Add the iPod to the mix and it's just a disaster waiting to happen.
Naturally, I offer to drive as much as possible.
Buckle your ROFL belt, we're in for some LOLs.
This is very bad advice. That's not to deny there's a serious issue involved here, which is balancing the uses you'd like to put your attention to with the uses others want to put it to.
My stance on this is that people deserve FULL attention. Which is why I don't let them demand a piece of my attention any time they please.
The best practice, I think. is to have ground rules and make sure people around you know what they are. These are the times/places/situations in which you can demand my attention, and these are the times/places/situations in which you can't. Reasonable exceptions of course apply: "I am about to commit suicide" or "the house is on fire" or "I'm pregnant" for example.
On the other hand when it's open season on your attention, you have to be ready to let them have it ALL.
The reason your brother is annoying you when he tries to engage you in a discussion about sports is that you are working at cross purposes. If you are prepared to set aside the other purpose for the moment, then the annoyance goes away. If you really listen to him, it won't feel like you are wasting your time. You may also find that people talk about different things if you really listen to them. Your brother may lay off sports because you ask a lot of stupid (ane therefore often difficult to answer) questions. Or you may find yourself learning something new, which is never a waste of time.
People are sloppy about this, because most of the time people just want a little attention. If you have the gift of small talk, it's not hard to satisfy this, and life goes smoothly and you'll make lots of friends. If you don't have the gift of small talk, it's worth cultivating it because it does a real service to other people, some of whom (presumably) you care about.
So separate the blocks of time that belong entirely to you, and the blocks of time you are willing to let others take pieces from. Then when your girlfriend wants to yammer about some television show, set aside whatever you are doing, turn to her, and treat this moment as if there were no conceivable purpose more interesting and important than to spend it talking about what she wants to talk about. Whether you are hot on the trail of a cure for cancer, or a proof that P=NP, or the reason her favorite performer got voted off the TV show, you could not possibly give her a jot more attention, nor what she has to say an iota more serious consideration.
This should be worth trying just for the prank value.
But try setting aside time for yourself and time for other people, just for a few days. Then ask yourself: the problem is really that people bother you with useless information, or that you are blaming others for your own failure to manage your own attention span?
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.