Instant Messaging for Introverts
This is an excellent article about the intrusiveness of modern “always on” communications tools, especially instant messaging. The author framed it as an introvert vs. extrovert problem, which I’m not sure is a correct assessment- to me it’s manners vs. rudeness. Some folks think because they have instant messaging it’s OK to be constantly interrupted, or to constantly interrupt other people for every trivial thing. Well, no, it’s not OK.
The author of this article, Joe Kissell, is a man after my own heart. He doesn’t care for instant messaging, and doesn’t have much use for cell phones either. Mr. Kissell writes:
“The introvert trait of not dealing well with interruptions comes into play in a couple of different ways with IM.”
Nobody, but nobody works efficiently with interruptions and juggling multiple tasks. Not mothers of multiple small children, not ER doctors, not computer geeks- nobody. They’re fooling themselves if they think they are. It’s fashionable these days to claim all manner of elite multi-tasking skills, and the ones who think they are so wonderful at it are not nearly as productive as the boring old-fashioned types who plug away at one task at a time, and who stop only when they get to a good stopping point. Too many people substitute endless pointless phone calls, texting, IM-ing, and emailing as substitutes for plain old knuckling down and getting their work done. They’re like teenagers going through the must-be-connected-to-friends-24×7 phase. I hate to break the news, but eventually the time comes to be a grownup.
“This is why I love email as a mode of communication. I get many dozens of messages every day, but I can answer them whenever I want.”
Metoo! And, like Mr, Kissell, I usually take time to respond carefully, and make several revisions before I hit “send”. I wish more email users would do that. I get tired of folks who can’t even read a whole message before replying, and ask stupid questions that are already answered. And then don’t bother to frame a coherent reply, but just dash off some stream-of-consciousness babble without spell-checking, proper capitalization and punctuation, and reasonable grammar. Even bloggers find excuses for not having basic competence in their native languages- they don’t get paid, so it’s ok to be sloppy and incoherent. Or they’re just so, so busy and important they don’t have time.
Then there’s the poor sods who are chained to their damned cell phones, and who are incapable of letting calls go to voicemail. It’s like a mental illness. I’m offended when I’m visiting with a friend who won’t shut the darned thing off while we’re together. That’s rude. They’re so sure it’s going to be vitally important- ha. In all the years we’ve had cell phones, it has yet to be vitally important. These are the same kinds of weirdos who leap out of the shower to answer the phone. I answer my phone when I jolly well feel like it, and am perfectly comfortable listening to it ring forlornly in the other room.
Mr. Kissell knows that the demands of some jobs require a lot of availability, and for those, IM, cell phones, and mobile messaging are useful. But for most people they’re just adult pacifiers. Time to shed the Binkys and grow up.
bye-bye-binky-ending-the-pacifier-habit
Some people have email notification set to the highest freequency and respond immediately to everything. If you don't respond to their email immediately, they call and ask why you didn't respond. They are interrupt-driven. They react but can't act. They were my boss once.
Personally, I just don't like having my focus moved so often. However, there are plenty of under 35 year-olds who seem to work with it. Maybe it's just generational?
I don't think that there is any problem with getting out of the shower to answer the phone. The only down-side to it is getting the floor wet.
I believe that taking an occasional call when meeting friends is OK, it's only a problem if there are many calls. Even taking a number of calls can be acceptable in some situations (EG meeting a friend who is searching for a new job - turning down a call from a recruiting agent is never a good idea).
The only really bad thing is taking a call during a lecture, play, or other public performance. Even then if someone sets their phone to vibrate and just leaves the room it doesn't bother me when I'm giving the lecture.
... i dunno how i would get things done without IM -- and twitter is incredibly handy as it's IM that follows you away from your computer. I can be camping, sitting by a lake with my feet dangling in, and still be arranging speakers for the next linuxchix meetup. It's not an IRQ - i can wait 15 minutes, even an hour or two before responding.
It's only a chain if you let it be a chain.
I wrote about this on my personal blog from the perspective of being someone with Asperger's syndrome (a form of autism). The interrupt-driven mindset is even harder for me to maintain than for the average neurotypical (non-Asperger's / autism) person. (I don't want to link to my personal blog here because it is not about technology and is highly political.)
I mentioned how dangerous using the cell phone while driving is, especially for us Aspies. Some guy responded by using my personal blog as a sales platform for some product that makes sure your hands stay on the wheel when you're on the cell phone. Way to miss the point, dude! The point being, that unless you're writing software to handle life-or-death situations -- which are extremely rare -- there's *no reason* for any corporation to expect you to be chained to your cell phone, IM, text messaging, etc. It's a corporate mindset that I'm getting sick of, and sadly, it's spreading to academia also (where I'm currently working).
Yeah, those extreme-programming daily huddles are great, but that won't work if people are throwing fits because you don't answer them within one minute.
I don't use IM and I don't answer my cell phone unless I feel like it.
To answer Matt Doar's question, it probably is at least somewhat generational (I'm 49), but I think the under-35's are making a mistake if they believe they are being more efficient by living a interrupt-driven lifestyle. They've never heard of queueing interrupts for later response, it seems.