[MBTI General] If your an online junky, your not an E

[Thalassa]

I don't know about an Entirely even divide... specifically for people spending tremendous amounts of time on forums. Maybe? I notice that as far as NF's go.. I don't see too many ENFJ's on forums and I wonder why that is... I also think the N outweights the S on this type of forum.. I attribute that to S preferring a concrete, practical world. Ultimately, I think my question involving ENF's online really comes down to being Ne dom. Maybe there are other reasons (as I previously mentioned the obvious arguments of forums still being social experiences and external events.)

Anyhow, it really doesn't matter as no one is 100% any preference. We use all our functions, blah blah... I really just wanted to see if there is indeed a pattern of more introverts online, and to explore the motivations of E's being online (ALOT).

I think someone made a very good point when they say different types could be doing different things on the Internet. Like hardcore gamers, I would guess most to be introverts, I could be wrong, but it seems more introverted. People who hang around on facebook or myspace all day might be more likely to be extroverts and/or sensors,actually, because it connects directly to their "real" world of people they know IRL for the most part. It's just another communication tool for some people.

Really chatty people on forums might be more likely to be Es. I've noticed that like four of us in the top ten posters are ENxPs and there's an ENFJ. Not that introverts can't post a lot too...but extroverts are probably chatty and put less pre-meditated thought into their posts, so might post in higher numbers. Like having a conversation.

Some people on LiveJournal seem to do research all day long on the Internet, like don't appear to be nearly *as* social as those who would be hardcore forum addicts. I see A LOT of INxx on my friends list on LJ.

There are people who still might think I'm INFP, I don't know, but I think it's highly plausible that ENxPs, as Ne doms, would be heavily interested in Internet usage.

 

[KDude]

THis is a good question KDude. What does people-oriented really mean? Anyone want to elaborate? I saw this as one who's interests lie more around people than things.

I see the distinction often in Socionics, and many times in MBTI (yet not as much), but not in Jung's definition. The original definition of Fi was as well rounded as Ti.. in the sense that it makes evaluations in all areas of life. In Socionics, it basically relegates Fi to relationship concerns. This annoyed me.. to the point that I thought I might have been an NT.

 

[lunalum]

I really just wanted to see if there is indeed a pattern of more introverts online, and to explore the motivations of E's being online (ALOT).

Well, I don't know if I'm the best example as someone teetering on the I/E line, but I'm pretty much an online junkie. A lot of my motivation to do so is to be able to discuss things that I'm not able to discuss out in the world. In a lot of ways, it is a much better environment for pure idea-exchange. Also, there is the entertainment stuff like web comics and music and such....

And often, alternating between 5-20 online windows from things to researching to chatting to forumming to music, while listening to the conversation in the other room and walking around the room every 10 minutes..... is a lot more entertaining and interactive than actually joining that conversation in the other room

There are people who still might think I'm INFP, I don't know, but I think it's highly plausible that ENxPs, as Ne doms, would be heavily interested in Internet usage.

I think it's highly plausible as well.... especially if any of the above is an example of ENxP style internet usage

 

[Rebe]

i am on this forum because i have a fetish for typology and no one IRL can satisfy it. I would prefer to have someone face to face to talk about all this with, but at the same time, i'd need a huge group of people to answer all the questions and curiosities that i have, that continuously develops. so, the forum vs IRL is much more efficient and fulfilling. if i find merit in online-ing, such as filling one of my knowledge wells, then i do it. but i don't like to chat about nothing with anyone. i don't go on random forums or random chat rooms. i have specific purposes.

i don't know how accurate that information is because there are many factors to "online addiction". ne loves new ideas, constant, changing ideas and connections and the internet makes that extremely easy. i explore a lot of my ideas and questions online. it's an endless resource. sometimes for me, it's about human interaction but most times, it's about ideas. and that's not just an introverted desire. *insert something about the revolution of the internet and information, communication, etc etc* i think the term online addiction is iffy, what classifies as online addiction? almost everyone is glued to their laptops. there is so much available for everyone.

 

[skylights]

I think someone made a very good point when they say different types could be doing different things on the Internet. [...] People who hang around on facebook or myspace all day might be more likely to be extroverts and/or sensors,actually, because it connects directly to their "real" world of people they know IRL for the most part. It's just another communication tool for some people.

Really chatty people on forums might be more likely to be Es. I've noticed that like four of us in the top ten posters are ENxPs and there's an ENFJ. Not that introverts can't post a lot too...but extroverts are probably chatty and put less pre-meditated thought into their posts, so might post in higher numbers. Like having a conversation.

yes, i think this is a really excellent point.

it seems like the extraverts i know do do more social networking and participate in more immediate socializing, the EPs in particular. i think the EJs i know also seem to tend to use the internet to browse things they are interested in - like a friend of mine who searches new clothing design patterns (she has an awesome sense of style and makes her own clothes!). NPs in general seem to get lost in "research" - you know, start by searching something in wikipedia and find yourself neck-deep in tv tropes 5 hours later.

i really see the "superficiality" of Es on the internet. and i mean that for myself, too. it's not that we're not deep, of course we can be, but we tend to be everywhere on the internet. 200 tabs, 5 chat convos, 15 forum posts in the span of an hour. whereas introverts tend to delve and dwell. like marm was referring to, i know a lot of introverts who write. i have an INFP 4w5 friend who's absolutely hilarious IRL and writes incredibly beautiful poems and reflections online. it's fascinating to see the two sides of her, because she's really deadpan in realtime, but the non-real-time nature of her blog lets her really express herself, i think. and i do think it pans out here that introverts tend to spend more time thinking about their posts and developing their content than a lot of extraverts (myself included) who rattle off until we get something of value.

A lot of my motivation to do so is to be able to discuss things that I'm not able to discuss out in the world.

yeah, definitely.

and i like the anonymity of the internet. i can explore and play and be 100 things that i don't really want to have to deal with the consequences of IRL. you guys will probably never see a video of me or learn too much about who i am because part of what makes it so appealing is how i can share everything and yet nothing at the same time. it's a Ne dreamland. so many ideas and so few consequences.

If you are an E, how does your forum time balance out with your real life time? [...] If I lived closer to friends and family, I don't think I would spend nearly as much time on sites like these as I do.

it's exactly that for me. i joined this forum after moving somewhere new, in large part because i really missed socializing IRL. the number of friends who are near me now is so drastically lower than before that i seek more human contact from the intarwebz. i definitely have been an internet junkie ever since i dialed up AOL a million years ago, but i used to care more about the things i was doing. now, i mean i care about the MBTI and enneagram and all, it's interesting, but i think the stimulating conversation is what keeps me in this forum more so than the actual subject. usually i dive into things really deeply for a few months then move on. i've overstayed my norm here.

 

[Santosha]

There are people who still might think I'm INFP, I don't know, but I think it's highly plausible that ENxPs, as Ne doms, would be heavily interested in Internet usage.

Are you really doubting your E/I pref? I picked up that you had an official test done... so what did you think about that test? Was it the same ole' stuff we get online? Do you see legitimate reasons you'd be Fi dom? Feel free to not respond, I think personality typing is in a way, personal.... but I am curious

 

[crack]

I don't know about an Entirely even divide... specifically for people spending tremendous amounts of time on forums. Maybe? I notice that as far as NF's go.. I don't see too many ENFJ's on forums and I wonder why that is... I also think the N outweights the S on this type of forum.. I attribute that to S preferring a concrete, practical world. Ultimately, I think my question involving ENF's online really comes down to being Ne dom. Maybe there are other reasons (as I previously mentioned the obvious arguments of forums still being social experiences and external events.)

Anyhow, it really doesn't matter as no one is 100% any preference. We use all our functions, blah blah... I really just wanted to see if there is indeed a pattern of more introverts online, and to explore the motivations of E's being online (ALOT).

This post inspired an interesting idea: Could internet usage be linked to dominant function?

I don't have it in me to eloquently explain the idea, but think about it.

Ne = N is mental/focused on thought, e is stimulated by new experiences/the outside world/external input.... so that explains why ENxP's are actually common on the internet ("unlimited ideas at the click of a button"). Fe has very high need for energy feedback from others and this is much more easily gotten from face-to-face interaction than online interaction, which explains the scarcity of both ENFJ's and ESFJ's. Te is pretty much about making decisions and affecting the outside world, and it's also much easier to cause change to things that have tangible effects in the tangible world than from behind a keyboard, this could explain why ENTJ/ESTJ might not be common. Se is obvious as to why it's rare - thus ESFP/ESTP.

On the other hand, introverts are 1. usually drained by social interaction, so much prefer the internet (where, as someone else essentially said, they can pull the social plug whenever they want to), 2. have higher tendency to dwell/think deep, and 3. ....... well I had a 3 but I've forgotten it now.

Edit: This post's suggestion is that while "if online, then NOT an E" is wrong, it is much, much, much less common for E's to be online junkies because _______. (If my ideas is sound, only ENFP/ENTP would be the E's not out of place to be online, which makes sense to me, is something everyone else agrees with, and supports the dom-function-and-perhaps-why-E's-aren't-internetters theory.)

 

[Santosha]

This post inspired an interesting idea: Could internet usage be linked to dominant function?

I don't have it in me to eloquently explain the idea, but think about it.

Ne = N is mental/focused on thought, e is stimulated by new experiences/the outside world/external input.... so that explains why ENxP's are actually common on the internet ("unlimited ideas at the click of a button"). Fe has very high need for energy feedback from others and this is much more easily gotten from face-to-face interaction than online interaction, which explains the scarcity of both ENFJ's and ESFJ's. Te is pretty much about making decisions and affecting the outside world, and it's also much easier to cause change to things that have tangible effects in the tangible world than from behind a keyboard, this could explain why ENTJ/ESTJ might not be common. Se is obvious as to why it's rare - thus ESFP/ESTP.

On the other hand, introverts are 1. usually drained by social interaction, so much prefer the internet (where, as someone else essentially said, they can pull the social plug whenever they want to), 2. have higher tendency to dwell/think deep, and 3. ....... well I had a 3 but I've forgotten it now.

Edit: This post's suggestion is that while "if online, then NOT an E" is wrong, it is much, much, much less common for E's to be online junkies because _______. (If my ideas is sound, only ENFP/ENTP would be the E's not out of place to be online, which makes sense to me, is something everyone else agrees with, and supports the dom-function-and-perhaps-why-E's-aren't-internetters theory.)

My guess is that dom and aux function probably do have some bearing, in the very least, as to why certain types are drawn to certain aspects online, if not why certain types are online at all.

 

[Anew Leaf]

Part of why internet interactions are so appealing for me is because I have plenty of time to think and relfect as I need it. Whereas in RL interactions I am sometimes "behind the times" if I get caught up in an idea. This isn't a problem with my fellow introvert friends, but it can be an issue with my delightful E friends .

I find I relax more and am more fun if I feel that any response from me is allowed to be at my leisure per se. If I feel like someone is demanding an answer from me RIGHT NOW and the answer isn't a simple yes or no... then I am apt to ignore the person or start making up nonsensical stuff (even more so than you have already seen) just to get them off my back.

My best friend is a fellow INFP and we text each other daily. I think we rack up a good 3500 to and from messages a month with each other. Texting allows us to chat, catch up, or just shoot the breeze while also doing something else. We can be having a fun conversation on how awesome a movie we saw is, while at the same time she's watching a documentary on pyramids and I am playing with my watercolors. The same with the internet, I can give someone my attention and it isn't a neglectful attention at all... but it's not necessarily my full attention.

I also really appreciate the fact that internet interactions have a written form of the conversation. My mind wanders at times (even when I don't mean it to) and if I am in the middle of an RL conversation, this can look bad.... Sometimes I am able to wing it by saying, oh yeah that's awesome! (desperately hoping they were talking about buying new eyeshadow and not that their child is sick), and other times it's extremely obvious that I have been in La La Land for the past 8 minutes.

 

[Lark]

I came accross some random writing on the behaviors of ENF and INF, and it was mentioned that you don't typically find that many extroverts hanging around online forums, but lots of INF's. I'm sure this was implying that typically an Extrovert would prefer to spend more time in the real world, face to face verbal interaction, pursuing tangible relations.

What do you think about this?
If you are an E, how does your forum time balance out with your real life time?
I am pretty certain of my extroversion, and I'm going to be honest.. I love typology, but I have recently become a forum junky BECAUSE my ability to socialize IRL is hindered, for various reasons. If I lived closer to friends and family, I don't think I would spend nearly as much time on sites like these as I do.

I think its bunk, its a bit like suggesting that every lion has an antelope for breakfast when in reality they can only have one if there is one around, also, like I said before, Extroverts will prefer company to no company but it'll still need to be good company, if you're seeking the company of soul sucking emotional vampires and painful people for a thrill you're not an Extrovert you're either some kind of saint or some kind of masochistic neurotic.

You could as easily suggest that Extroverts participate in online forums while Introverts lurk.

 

[Anew Leaf]

I think its bunk, its a bit like suggesting that every lion has an antelope for breakfast when in reality they can only have one if there is one around, also, like I said before, Extroverts will prefer company to no company but it'll still need to be good company, if you're seeking the company of soul sucking emotional vampires and painful people for a thrill you're not an Extrovert you're either some kind of saint or some kind of masochistic neurotic.

You could as easily suggest that Extroverts participate in online forums while Introverts lurk.

I am a magnet for these emotional black hole people. I've finally learned that I can escape their event horizon if I play dead.

 

[Lark]

I am a magnet for these emotional black hole people. I've finally learned that I can escape their event horizon if I play dead.

Ha! Do they ever phone an ambulance for you?

 

[Anew Leaf]

Ha! Do they ever phone an ambulance for you?

One backed away real slow like. Another cried for days, rocking in the fetal position, mourning the loss of our 5 minute relationship that started when they hijacked me at Barnes and Noble to start telling me about their abusive childhood, and the last one did call an ambulance but their gravitional pull sucked the ambulance into themselves instead.

 

[Glycerine]

Hahahahaha, yikes. I had a girl the other day tell me for 15 minutes about why she is going to court and how the cops unfairly treated her and I hardly knew the girl. Interesting. Story of my life.

 

[Anew Leaf]

Hahahahaha, yikes. I had a girl the other day tell me for 15 minutes about why she is going to court and how the cops unfairly treated her and I hardly knew the girl. Interesting. Story of my life.

The curse of the NF .

I like this ability when it's a friend... But not when it's random strangers.

 

[Lark]

You know I've told people about their self-disclosure tendencies straight when they're totally random strangers telling me things which are beyond the general small talk between strangers.

Most of the time people acting like that arent very reflective and are getting an other person to perform that task for them by exteriorising everything. Its worse if they have a clear idea of how you are going to react and get nasty if you dont conform to their expectation, like if they're looking you to validate some behaviour which you can only say no, you know what, you were wrong there and need to sort your crap out.

 

[Santosha]

You know I've told people about their self-disclosure tendencies straight when they're totally random strangers telling me things which are beyond the general small talk between strangers.

Most of the time people acting like that arent very reflective and are getting an other person to perform that task for them by exteriorising everything. Its worse if they have a clear idea of how you are going to react and get nasty if you dont conform to their expectation, like if they're looking you to validate some behaviour which you can only say no, you know what, you were wrong there and need to sort your crap out.

Oooo, I really like that not-self reflecting bit. I am going to have to think on that, especially how to incorporate it into these social vampire exhanges without appearing like a heartless jerk.

 

[Anew Leaf]

You know I've told people about their self-disclosure tendencies straight when they're totally random strangers telling me things which are beyond the general small talk between strangers.

Most of the time people acting like that arent very reflective and are getting an other person to perform that task for them by exteriorising everything. Its worse if they have a clear idea of how you are going to react and get nasty if you dont conform to their expectation, like if they're looking you to validate some behaviour which you can only say no, you know what, you were wrong there and need to sort your crap out.

Ah, yes. I have had to do this on occasion but it's rare that I do so. (I really should do it more often.)

I have a good instinct for when people want something emotionally out of me, and I will then make it my lifes mission to withhold it from them. This is why I hated pep rallies in school, and also why I hate nicholas sparks novels/movies.

 

[Unkindloving]

Agreed about the social-life-ability being hindered. However, I don't view the internet as separate from being social and extraverted. I view it as an extension of my extraversion, as I will branch out and try to form long-lasting friendships regardless.
I do think that the ESxx's are more scarce around the forum than any other Extraverted type. Sometimes there are just people who feel themselves to be more grounded if their feet are firmly planted in what they consider more of a reality. It might give way to the reasoning behind "NF Idyllic" and why you're bound to see a heap of ENFPs/ENFJs in comparison.

Also, would consider the types of posts the Extraverts make most frequently versus the types of posts Introverts make. What is the common denominator? What is the usual focus/basis of posts? I've also found myself to only come across as extraverted in certain areas of the forum itself- and I will interact with anyone, but pick and choose who I keep up my contact with. It's based purely on people and what social aspects can translate to the rest of my world, beyond the forum itself.
For me, same goes for all other aspects of the internet. It's also a fantastic way to branch out and gain friendships throughout the world. Maybe looks introverted on a small scale, but feels extraverted on a large scale.