Social Media and Games

Extroverts are more outgoing when they talk to groups. Introverts usually communicate with others online individually. Introverts are just like me because we are on the same level. We are on a food for thought level where we all have internet knowledge and we can understand the controversy that goes on about the media. Extroverts just talk about the problems without knowing the background or history. It will be interesting to see extroverts discussing their feelings towards political events with the introverts online.

I’m generally more of an extrovert when I find connections with people, but it’s hard to convince me to interact with most people on the Internet because I often get annoyed. I think I’m getting old and crotchety. There’s also been plenty of times that I’ve tried to logically debate with people online, only to have them resort to personal insults, poorly written sentences, or ignoring my ideas altogether. So basically I’ve become a hermit that surprises you when we meet on a common level.

My introversion/extroversion is somewhat situational. I’ve never been afraid of sharing my opinion or questioning other peoples but I’m horrible around strangers. Its not that I don’t like being around people I don’t know, I just don’t like talking to them. I’ve found I’m the same both on-line and in meat space. I like going to see live music, or hanging out in bars, but I don’t like the process of meeting people. I like people in theory more than in person. I’m the same in MMOs. I’ve played a lot of them, and enjoyed the experience. But I have rarely joined guilds or even make an effort to party with the same people. I enjoy being in a world populated with others but don’t go out of my way to join or form parties. And I tend to really dislike the other prominent for of interaction, PvP. My general experience is that when there is a choice between PvP and PvE servers, the PvP servers attract all the jerks, leaving more agreeable people to the PvE servers.

Depending on a situation or group around me can affect whether or I am an introvert or extrovert. If I am around many people I do not know I am an introvert, however if I am online with people I do not know I am an extrovert. This is because in online situation there no real major consequences to what I say to anyone and if the person is offended by anything I say I can just say that they misinterpreted what I said. Sarcasm is hard to use in text which makes it an easy excuse for people to say whatever they want. Usually I try not to be obnoxious online just because I do not want to nuisance. Being online is a safety net for many because of the lack of consequences and no one knows who your are. A great example of that is my Facebook account. It features an attractive women as the primary page and I made up most of her profile. People who see this think I am that women. Generally people are trusting of what they see which is why they make this mistake.

I am naturally an introvert in a social situation. I like to keep my peace, listen to other people talk, and just enjoy their company without necessarily needing to be the center of attention.

But then I get on facebook, and suddenly I feel I have the need to be noticed. I need other people to read my status updates, because I enjoy it when someone ”likes” what I say. It sucks that I notice this, and don’t do anything to change it. I find that I like to get into debates on Facebook about things I care about (movies, theology, games, etc.), and I enjoy discussing such topics there, but I know that in person I would be terrible at debating. I enjoy having as much time as I want to prepare my response, even opening up a tab to google something, before I post it. In person, I can’t do that. I feel that my argument would probably stop short very early in the debate.

From personality tests I’ve had to take in several classes, I’ve found that I can swing from introvert to extrovert quite often and so irl, I have no problem meeting new people but I won’t go out of my way to do it. The same holds true online. Even on xbox live, I won’t send invites to people and only my good friends have my gamer tag. On WoW, I I greet no one when I get online, including guild mates. However, When we’re raiding in Vent or someone asks me questions, I have no problem talking to them or answering their questions. I also have no problem meeting people in game for transactions such as enchanting gear because it’s something I need done and the guild’s enchanter isn’t always online. And it’s not like you ask an enchanter looking for work for an enchant and then they say ”For YOU?! HELL NO GET OUTTA HERE NERD.”

I do feel, though, that interaction online is a lot easier than interaction irl because you can get made fun of in game, you can DIE IRL D:

I would say that I am introverted and talk very little even online. I consider myself to be shy and a little secretive. I don’t like the idea of people knowing what I’m thinking all the time so i don’t tweet or actually post anything on facebook. Even on multi-player games I don’t think I change much from real life. There are certain situations where you can get me to talk more than in real life, but not very many.

I understand why some peoples personality seems to change once they become anonymous online. I can even see the appeal. I just don’t do it myself.

I originally was far more extroverted on the internet than I was in real life. Frequently, I’d make more posts in an online forum than I’d speak sentences all day in school. I eventually started doing the opposite and began to post less on forums and spoke up more in real life, but I don’t feel like social games or the internet had any impact on that. I’m more or less the same person in both spheres; the only difference is that when I feel like being an asshole on the internet I’m a little more obnoxious. The one thing I do think the internet has helped me with (social games had pretty much no part in forming my internet person) is determining the context of statements. There are a lot of ambiguous phrases that go by my ears/fly up my screen every day, and having lots of conversations where I can’t see peoples’ subtle facial tweaks have helped me figure out what people are trying to express without getting a visual representation of that.

The internet, for me, is kind of like a practice version of real life when it comes to socializing. I’ve always been very introverted and because I wasn’t pressured to join activities that would encourage socializing, I simply didn’t do them. The internet, including online games, gave me a place to experience a watered down version of socializing where the pressure resulting from the physical, instant presence of other people did not exist. However, I don’t want to confuse introversion with shyness. Unlike some introverts, I’m both introverted AND shy, meaning that I both need time to ”recharge” after socializing and find it difficult to openly connect with others.

Generally speaking, I think that social games can be a great place for introverted and shy people to connect in ways that they simply wouldn’t do otherwise. Extroverts, on the other hand, may actually feel stifled by some forms of online communication. From my experience with extroverts, they tend to rely heavily on face-to-face skills, such as nonverbal communication and tone of voice. This may also be why I often see extroverts use emoticons in online formats.

An interesting thing to note is that I’m posting all this information about myself without hesitation online; I would never be so candid in person, unless I knew my listener(s) very well.

I think that the internet and social media certainly increase the ability for people to share their ideas and creations, but I don’t believe that it really changes whether or not they are an introvert or an extrovert. People of both personality types certainly have the prerequisite skills to use facebook or twitter. In my mind an introvert is more inclined to define their personality in terms of how they view themselves. Where as an extrovert will define themselves by how others view them. The use of a social media doesn’t really change how a person defines themselves.

I feel like there is certainly proof that people who would ordinarily not engage in group activities are bolstered by the freedom of the internet. Beyond the identity issues, there’s simply more opportunity to contribute in an online form than in real life. A class session for example, only one person can talk at any given time, and only one topic can be discussed at any given time. On our website, even in a single forum, multiple threads of conversation are running at any given time. ”Talkers” don’t need to wait their turn to contribute. They simply post their opinions, regardless of if the topic has shifted.

Solitaire(possibly the original single player game) as a social game http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2011/02/innovation-with-solitare.html

Creating content for social media sites or such places would have its own scale of being either introvert or extrovert due to the ability to be private from the world or the ability to safely post content without having people directly looking at you. I think that social media sites or games have a huge impact concerning introverts, considering that they would be able to do more without most of the stess of the real world and that they would be able to interact on their terms. I know that I am definitely more extroverted online, and more willing to share my work and ideas online than I would be in person because things are just simply more relaxed on online and the calmness does add to me being able to open up my mind more. There is no doubt that the online world is far more welcome most of the time than the real world and the online world does cater itself to be far more adjustable to the user’s preferences than the fixed element of reality.

I’m not entirely sure how to respond to the question of are you an introvert or an extrovert.

if I’m ever asked for an idea on something, i have no problem giving an opinion online. off line i might be slightly more reserved( no point in bumming someone out). same thing applies for showing off work samples, and definitely applies when I’m stuck speaking on a matter ( i hate you sometimes public speaking). playing video games, however i have been extremely fortunate. each time I’ve hopped into a sever EVERYONE has been in a good mood. we’re always laughing , joking, poking at peoples mamas, the whole nine yards. so my experience online has been pretty damn similar to the real world ( which is how it should always be).

i think if i didn’t have the internet, i would be in a completely different place then i would be right now and most definitely would have been introverted.

does this make me someone in between?