Anybody here have trouble w/online or telephone socializing?

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I have always hated talking on the phone. But then, I started to realize I had them in my power. I didn't have to sort through eye wiggles and facial twitches, poses of the body and all that stuff that passes for communications between NTs and I had them in an arena where they had to depend on WORDS only. I could deal with that.

So my work has been technical support, customer service, anything I can use a telephone to communicate with folks. My intense focus on business only, no chit chat (well a little chit chat just so they stop saying "is this a COMPUTER??" and I have to inflect my voice a little, but I spend about 7 straight hours on the phone a day.

Strange corollary, though, I refuse to talk on my own phone, I hate it. I only have the 20 dollar every three months cell phone tracphone sort that are disposable and only for doctors appointment confirmation or the odd call from the pharmacy. I hate using it and rarely, rarely make an out going call. Most days, if I didn't talk on the phones at work, I would speak to no one but my cat.
and there is nothing wrong with that.

Merle

I feel EXACTLY the same way, samizat. I was going to start a thread just like this one, but you beat me to it. I'm terrible on the phone. Just awful . I have panic attacks (unless i have a script written out which I can refer to, but if the other person deviates at all from the anticipated topic(s), it gets really ugly fast.

Not too long ago I was having a phone conference with a prospective client (I had a script prepared, of course) all was going well and then suddenly, some Jehova's witnesses knocked on his door... it was really unexpected and I got reaaallly nervous.... and then he started trying to discuss politics and religion with me... I tried to go along with it because I really wanted the contract (big $$$)....oh, it was really bad... I said I thought we should all mind our own business (I meant as far as religion)... it ended with him basically blaming the holocaust on me. I never heard from him again. That happens every time.

And yes, I'm certain that I'm being judged harshly by everyone all othe time. It sucks.

What I hate, more than anything else, is talking into an answering machine. I sound like a complete idiot. I hate talking into "dead air."

I hate anything to with telephone, its a nightmare, and if I phone, it means I really need/want something that cant be gotten otherwise.

But I have no prob with the net at all, rather opposite, I am in lots of forums, on myspace etc.

I don't really have a problem with the telephone. What bothers me is quite the opposite. I only have a cell phone and i'm always checking it to see if anyone has called me. I don't get that many phone calls. I have had two previous call center jobs and I just had an interview yesterday for another one that I really hope to get.

I have trouble speaking on the phone too, it always leaves me feeling beat up and exhausted. But on the other hand it is sometimes worth it if you need or want to have a conversation with someone. I can tell/ sense a lot about a person from their voice, and how they speak.

It´s ok for me to talk with someone I know on the phone, but I always get nervous if it´s a wrong number or something. But I don´t have problems talking to new people online for some reason.

yep hate phones.... especially leaving messages on them... i always leave long awkward rambling thing

I hate talking on phones. It's sometimes hard to understand the person, you can't do anythng else because you have to listen, I do zone out when I'm doing something else.

I do have a cell phone and I carry it with me everywhere I go. It's for in case my aunt and uncle need to reach me. I also had it when I was out job hunting and it was for when places decide to call me for an interview. Unfortunitly I get called at the wrong time. It is hard being on a bus and then the phone rings and I get cut off but luckily my phone has a caller ID on it and it stores the numbers on it and I call them right back once I got off the bus and found a place to sit and had pen and paper.


I also hate leaving messages. People rarely call me back so I see in no point. I just call back hoping I can reach them again. Also I have to reherse in my head what I'm going to say before I can leave a message or I am just stuttering and saying uh and um sounding really stupid.

It really depends on my mood,although I do find that I get tired of talking on the phone after about 10 minutes.

I also find it hard to hold a online conversation.



-SpaceCase

I feel so... liked. Maybe I just have a persecution complex. I wonder if this is the case offline too.

All forms of communication are very challenging for me. I hate talking on the phone, and I hate how long it takes me to get the gumption up to even call my (best) friend... can be days or weeks sometimes. Online stuff - chatting, posting on forums and e-mail is no better. I don't post here as often as I would like because it takes too much energy, and sometimes I even get panic attacks just thinking about it! I've on many occasions taken two weeks to a few months to e-mail someone with just two lines of text - and these are actually to people that I do like!! ! It's so bloody frustrating...

I have a GoPhone, and sometimes I wonder why the heck I have it...oh, yeah, for my (best )friend ...doctor...work...humnnn...

Yeah, I completely hate using the phone and rarely have to nowadays but it was a complete nightmare when I was working in an office and had to speak to people on the phone.

I am not so great at the online stuff either really; I have been involved in many forums/chans etc. over the years and have never really been able to feel part of an online community. Just before christmas I quit a board where I had been a member for about four years and had several thousand posts but I still didn't feel like I was someone who was known like other members who hadn't even been there as long as me (that isn't why I quit - I just felt it was eating too much of my time). I tend to blend into the background quite easily; even online.

MSN and one-on-one chats can be a bit of a nightmare for me too, I tend to rely on the other person leading the conversation and often just can't think of much to say. It normally gets better as I get to know people or if they are a good MSN-er; I try and learn to follow their lead.

With regards to listening to music and sound quality, I find that the mastering on pop and rock stuff isn't that great anyway (compared to the mastering on 'classical' CDs) and sometimes when played through better systems with better speakers actually ends up sounding worse so I don't mind listening to rock or pop on crappy car stereos whereas I can't listen to my 'classical' stuff in the car as the systems don't usually do the CDs justice and I tend not to be able to hear them properly.

I hate to say this but Im so glad to hear that. Its done that to me ever since I was a kid. The second one rings I tense up. Im just glad for answering machines and screening calls. Big lifesaver.

i enjoy reading your posts so i guess that means i like you!

//I HATE PHONES\\

I like you GoatOnFire.


I come off as a b***h online. But I can be mean in real life too. So it is hard to stop 'being mean' because I don't know where to start.