(no subject)

[wispfox]

Huh. I appear to be a conversational addict.

I'm all out of sorts today because I want to be having interesting conversations with people, and not be at work.

LJ is ok for that, but because I try to keep my friends list at least somewhat sane in length, I'm caught up.

My email hasn't been terribly good for conversations for months, but I still seem to look anyway. It's sorta disturbing that I keep looking!

I don't _like_ AIM, much, so it's not open. It's got the bad aspects of email and phone - email gives me time to think about what I want to say, so the lack of body language and similar is ok. Phone has some body language (via voice), which compensates somewhat for the lack of time to think. Instant messanging things are real-time enough to not give me much time to think, reduce my ability to multi-task, and have no body language input.

Eh. Is ok. It just means I'm getting enough of it to be distracted by it being missing, rather than just being aware of its lack. Probably also means I ought to go back to being a bit more social than I had been lately!

*runs away*

Comments

[wurmwyd.livejournal.com]

Hi There!

I'm actually much more addicted to AIM. Easier to have a conversation than e-mail, but more work-safe than phone. I'm usually on AIM while at work.

We could be like, actually having a conversation right now if you weren't AIM-phobic, actually! :P

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

Easier to have a conversation than e-mail

For you, perhaps. Not for me. The signal-to-noise ratio for me when I'm on AIM is _way_ lower than over email or on the phone. I'm too distracted and have trouble doing conversation through that medium. Especially if I'm at work, but even when at home.

more work-safe than phone.

To be honest, I don't like phone much better than I like AIM. Phones make me uncomfortable, at least most of the time. Some people I can talk to over phones, but most people I cannot comfortably do so. The few times I have actual phone conversations at work, I go _outside_, or something.

if you weren't AIM-phobic

Yeah, but I have a meeting in about 5 minutes, even if I _weren't_ AIM-phobic. ;)

Re: phones

[wolfieboy.livejournal.com]

The few times I have actual phone conversations at work, I go _outside_, or something.

This is why for even work calls, I use my cellphone. It enables me to walk around, go outside, do what I need to do. I also find that if I'm a _little_ distracted when talking on the phone, I can talk on the phone better. People get very frustrated with me if I'm not doing something else while on the phone.

Re: phones

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

I also find that if I'm a _little_ distracted when talking on the phone, I can talk on the phone better. People get very frustrated with me if I'm not doing something else while on the phone.

How does distraction help you talk on the phone better? Wandering around, I understand, but mental distraction is another thing entirely.

Who gets frustrated: the people near you or the person you're talking to? If the latter, why do they get frustrated? *curious*

Re: phones

[wolfieboy.livejournal.com]

This makes more sense when you find out that I have ADD. I have it mostly under control but there are still behavioural patterns that need coping mechanisms. If I'm not a _little_ distracted then I'm not receiving enough stimulus to my brain to be fully engaged in the conversation. So, either I get more interested in something else and don't pay enough attention to the phone call or I focus too much attention on the phone call and go off on weird tangents, making the phone call much longer.

For myself and many others, ADD would more properly be called Attention Focus Disorder. The problem is not a deficit of attention but difficulty in controlling the focus of that attention. Since there is not all that many nonverbal cues in a phone call, being a little distracted helps. None of this is necessary face-to-face since there is so much higher bandwidth in person.

Does this answer your questions? As you might guess, I've thought about this a little.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

if I'm a _little_ distracted when talking on the phone, I can talk on the phone better.

Ditto. If I'm doing something other than just being on the phone, I'm much more comfortable with being on the phone.

Not sure if it's the same, but it's absolutely similar.