drone

the good kind, like sunn o)))

  • she/her

♥️ trans / bi / poly
📸 @loni


does anyone have a difference in executive function when using a desktop computer (or comfortably big laptop or whatever) vs phones? I know generally phones make access to chat services, browsers, sites, etc, extremely fast and convenient, and I'm on mine all the time, BUT I feel so much more comfortable and willing to actually type shit, conjure thoughts, reply, and generally interact with friends, communities, journals, social spaces, etc when I have a nice big screen and browser in front of me and a keyboard to comfortably type on. The screen estate just feels more relaxing, inviting, and engaging.

of course there's no rational barrier between me and sending a thought that's more than two sentences long from my phone to a friend - you "just" pick up your phone and do it almost the same way you would on a desktop, but as someone who's struggled with executive function my whole life I know the barriers there aren't wholly based in anything entirely rational. it's just, I know I'm going to be typing this way a bit slower compared to my usual pace and waving my thumbs around is just kind of a bit annoying and too slow and clunky for me to satisfyingly get my thoughts out there. plus, I edit a lot, go back and clarify my thoughts, and highlighting/chopping/changing is just soooo annoying on phones compared to the immediacy of a mouse + keyboard shortcuts.

I just have this feeling of being more able to translate my thoughts to screen with less mental resistance when at a computer.

so from my phone I turn into a big old lurker, with exceptions which is not the biggest deal when it comes to posting on websites, but then it also becomes a case of "leaving friends on received", so I can wait until I'm at a keyboard and properly formulate my thoughts and give them a worthwhile reply.

the main exceptions are with friends I really care about, on topics I am really excited about, and really want to reply immediately but that doesn't happen too often. or just one-sentence replies with friends who I don't need to spend too much time worrying about what tone I am putting across

I dunno. I don't really want to ramble so much about why - just wondering if other people have a similar experience in smartphone OS executive dysfunction.


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in reply to @drone's post:

I'm really grateful to have a nice laptop too, as much as I love my PC, it's great to have a full desktop OS wherever. not sure how well I would get on with a really small one but who knows...

being able to use the steam deck as a desktop PC is also a nice bonus, but I've not really spent much time taking advantage of that aspect of it yet.

nice to hear I'm not alone with this though 🙈

glad it's not just me! I think I just see a lot of people around me type on their phone for extended periods of time and do a lot of browser-y things like shopping and there's clearly no internal resistance to defaulting to it, so I genuinely wondered. just love to feel comfy when it comes to the ol' online

i feel extremely similar. anything longer than like 2 sentences at a time feels awful to write on it, which is just enough to tell me to wait. however, voice messages (if it's a DM situation) are lowkey sick

fun fact: I wrote like half of this post on my phone as a challenge to myself because the specific topic of it made me conscious about the act of posting from a phone. also I'd just got out of the bath and I was overheating and physically couldn't grab my laptop. but then I got fed up and sent the words to myself and got my laptop out and finished it