An Introvert and Social Media

I am an introvert!  Yes, I’m shy, but just being shy doesn’t define introversion.  I like conversations about ideas, but am maladroit when it comes to small talk and can be awkward in groups.  Going to parties or social events can zap my energy, and I will need time alone after such an event to “recharge.”  “The only thing a true introvert dislikes more than talking about himself is repeating himself.” (Rauch 2003)  (Sidenote: This fact alone makes interview loops a living hell for me.)  Being an introvert is not commonly understood even though Carl Jung (founder of Analytical psychology) first popularized the terms introversion and extroversion in the 1920’s.  Living in an extroverted world can be a challenge for an introvert.  This is where social media came into play for me.  I thought using social media tools, such as, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. would allow me to engage in interactions that I normally don’t partake due to feeling uncomfortable in the particular setting.  However, it’s been an interesting experience because I find the same apprehensions that I’ve experienced in face-to-face social settings rearing their heads in the social media world for me.  I get nervous about posting my thoughts, I analyze each and every tweet or post, I read into what this might mean or that might mean, I hesitate to @reply someone fearing being misunderstood.  Many times I delete the post/tweet altogether.  After a few weeks of feeling and acting this way in regards to interacting via social media tools I realized these were the same feelings I have when I interact in a social setting in person.  And the deletion of posts, well that could be the same thing as deciding not to attend an event at the last minute which I’ve done many times due to anxiousness or lack of social energy.  This all got me thinking about how different people, more specifically, different personalities use social media.

There have been studies that analyze social behaviors based on levels of participation of social media, such as, Forrester’s Social Technographics report.  There have been blog posts attempting to define Twitter personalities.  And I can find where I fit in both.  But what about taking existing personality types that have been defined and mapping them to how people use social media?  For instance, how would each of the 16 psychological types of the Myers-Briggs personality test use social media?  Would they interact with people using social media tools the same as interacting with people in person?  My initial reaction is yes based on my experience, but that’s only one person.  However, the internet has given us the ability to be anyone we want to be, even anonymous.  So this throws in a variable.  If an introvert has to be herself on the internet, will she behave the same virtually as she does physically?  If the introvert is given the ability to be anonymous will she more extroverted?

It’s a fascinating space to explore.  If this data was available, would companies begin marketing products to different personality types instead of just demographics?  With online ads this could be a possibility.

References: Rauch, Jonathan. March 2003. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200303/rauch

Next-Gen Mousetrap

The other day I went through an interview loop at, well we’ll call it, ABC Company.  Yes, I’m knee deep in a job search during one of the worst times to be looking for a job.  But this is how the Universe gets its kicks I guess!  Anyway, for those of you who don’t know what an interview loop is, it is a grueling ordeal in which you are interviewed by 4-5 people, an hour each, one right after another.  And in these wonderful little chats it becomes a free-for-all in terms of the questions these people ask you. And never mind that you just might be interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you, but in the end, they leave you 3-5 minutes to ask your questions.  Gotta love when it’s an employer’s market.

But I digress, so last week during one of these lovely meetings, I was asked to approach the whiteboard and design “The Next-Gen Mousetrap!”  Yep, you heard me, Next-Gen Mousetrap...and go!  There I stood with whiteboard marker in hand, staring at the whiteboard, thinking WTF!  How do I get myself into these predicaments?  I turn and ask the nice gentleman, “What are the requirements for this mousetrap?”  He kindly responds, “It’s up to you.”  Ahh, thanks for the help, dude.  So I proceed to talk out loud. (They supposedly like this because they want to hear what you’re thinking, how you’re thinking about the problem, and how you go about trying to solve the problem.)  Honestly, I don’t think anyone truly wants to know what’s going through my head during this time, but whatever.  

Let me share with you what came out of my head and onto the whiteboard for the remainder of the interview….So since it’s a next-gen I decide that my mousetrap will be green and made with eco-friendly materials.  Everything is green these days especially in Seattle!  And my mousetrap will be a no-kill mousetrap, so it will just trap the mouse for holding until it can be released back into nature. Now picture a rectangle shaped object on the whiteboard with a stick mouse inside the rectangle.  Ok, my mind is starting to race and I’m rambling at this point trying to think what the hell the next-gen mousetrap will do.  For some reason, next-gen to me conjures up teenagers in my mind. So I’m building mousetraps for teenagers. I don’t know about you, but mousetraps were the last thing on my mind as a teen girl.  Anyway, this gets me on the path of thinking that teens are also texting and using social media. Ah-ha!  I love social media, here’s where I can get a plug in for my social media knowledge.  All of a sudden my mousetrap has a webcam in it that’s hooked to a laptop of the teen who’s sitting in a classroom and now can monitor the mousetrap via the webcam.  Oh yeah!  But wait, my teen is too enthralled by the cute basketball player sitting across the room to be paying attention to the webcam.  What can get her attention, a text message, of course.  Not just any text, but one coming from the Twitter account that is set up for the mousetrap via software from the webcam.  Now when the mouse appears in the mousetrap the webcam flags the software which in turn sends a tweet which then text messages the teen girl.  You with me here?  I wasn’t interviewing for a developer role so don’t ask me how this stuff works I was just asked to design it.  Can you tell I was a consultant at one time?  (giggle, giggle) 

Ok, so now she’s been notified, she quickly logs into her laptop and sees the mouse in the trap.  Now I hit a snag in my plan that’s forming on the whiteboard.  My interviewer asks me what’s wrong and I tell him that I’ve got to figure out how to get the mouse out of the trap without killing him and without releasing him back into the house.  Hmmmmm, how can my teen physically move the trap while sitting in Physics class staring at the star basketball player?  Head is spinning, I’m so wanting to be at home in the basement in the fetal position at this point.  I got it!  Are you ready?  Put the mousetrap on a Roomba!  Boom goes the dynamite!  Now the software for the mousetrap that has the webcam tweeting messages via text can also control the Roomba.  My teen quickly maneuvers the Roomba with the mousetrap sitting atop with said mouse in it out the doggie door and into the freshly mowed lawn.  Wallah, now just click the Open Door button to the mousetrap via the software on the laptop and FREEDOM for the little mouse! 

Here’s the pic:

 

 

Please don’t copy this design, I’m in the process of getting a patent!  HA!

In the end, I didn’t get the job.  I can’t imagine why, my design was brilliant if you ask me.  So much so I think I’ll build a prototype and take it to my next loop so when they ask me these asinine questions I’m already equipped with Next-Gen Mousetrap in hand or what I like to call Mousetrap 2.0, what else?