4 ms·

Glad someone brings up this issue. Intrusive and “slippery” UI made me use external text editors to write most of what I send on web platforms. I have social an

Glad someone brings up this issue. Intrusive and “slippery” UI made me use external text editors to write most of what I send on web platforms. I have social anxiety and even the thought that someone can see that I am writing stresses me out because then I feel pressured to send something to not keep them waiting (and I am a very slow writer). It is similar when I see someone else writing. I understand that this may not be an issue for most people, but for me it is just another stress factor which keeps me from interacting with other people (other examples are the reading checkmark and the uncertainty if hitting enter sends the message or not). It would be fine for me if it was opt-in or at least can be turned off.

enlyth 4y ago
I don't have social anxiety and I still feel pressure from the 'is typing' like you say, so I disable it whenever I can. Usually this means you can't also see whether the other person is typing, but I don't care, I try to give people the time they need to reply.
- kqr 4y ago
  In many cases, you can only disable it on your end, meaning that you don't see when others are typing, but they still see when you are typing. That actually works out fine for me, because after I have had it turned off for a while, I forget that the software even has the feature, so although other people see when I'm typing, I don't know that they see it, which is what matters to me!
  - joe5150 4y ago
    I’ve seen the setting be symmetrical in more apps, which is nice. The last one I noticed had this feature is Microsoft Teams.
izoow 4y ago
I also do this with almost everything I write. I always have a Sublime Text window open with a bunch of unsaved tabs that I use as a buffer space for everything and copy paste it when I’m done. Another reason is persistence. If a webpage decides to refresh or my browser or system crashes, my textarea content is gone. Sublime Text remembers those unsaved tabs no matter what.
- robin_reala 4y ago
  Sublime does this incredibly well. I’ve got windows open with notes that I created a couple of years ago and haven’t explicitely saved. They’ve survived restarts, Sublime upgrades, whole-OS upgrades and everything inbetween.
- drra 4y ago
  For me it's also because of anglophonocentric implementation of hotkeys that can wreck what I write if I'm not careful.
- michaelmrose 4y ago
  Random thing. Tridactyl for firefox lets you open the contents of a text box in an instance of $EDITOR. Save and quit and the text box contains whatever you wrote in buffer. I believe several different addons for multiple browsers provide a similar feature. I find this a nicer experience for formatting and editing. It basically just automates what you are already doing.
- phforms 4y ago
  The macOS app Raycast has a “Floating Notes” extension that I frequently bring up with a keyboard shortcut for smaller messages. The text gets persisted and it is very lightweight and floats on top of other windows. Before that, I have also used Sublime Text (and I use it for many other things except coding, which is kind of ironic).
octoberfranklin 4y ago
Plus the fact that github has amassed the world's most comprehensive database of keystroke biometrics in the world. One which can safely be assumed to include 99% of all potential hacktivists. Kinda makes the FBI's fingerprint database look lame in comparison.
- b3morales 4y ago
  What part of GitHub are you referring to?
foobarbecue 4y ago
It never bothered me, until one time I was was carefully crafting a message to a manager on slack. I was doing a few other things at the same time, so I wrote it in fits and starts over 10 mins or so, but I never finished writing it because she messaged me something along the lines of "hey, what is it? You keep typing and then stopping. That normally means people are afraid to tell me something. Whatever it is, you can just tell me." Until then it didn't even occur to me she might be "watching me type." Such a creepy, distracting, "feature".
- b3morales 4y ago
  Yeah, agree, and it's bad from both ends. When I catch an unexpected typing indicator out of the corner of my eye it becomes a big distraction, anticipating that incoming message. The feature is semi-useful when you're in an active back-and-forth, to prevent some "talking over" each other. And if you've just posted in a channel it's nice to see so you know someone is working on a response. But having it light up for DMs, when you're not waiting for a reply, is a misfeature. It's like having someone stand at the open door of the room while they figure out what they're going to say.

enlyth 4y ago

I don't have social anxiety and I still feel pressure from the 'is typing' like you say, so I disable it whenever I can. Usually this means you can't also see whether the other person is typing, but I don't care, I try to give people the time they need to reply.

kqr 4y ago
In many cases, you can only disable it on your end, meaning that you don't see when others are typing, but they still see when you are typing. That actually works out fine for me, because after I have had it turned off for a while, I forget that the software even has the feature, so although other people see when I'm typing, I don't know that they see it, which is what matters to me!
- joe5150 4y ago
  I’ve seen the setting be symmetrical in more apps, which is nice. The last one I noticed had this feature is Microsoft Teams.

izoow 4y ago

I also do this with almost everything I write. I always have a Sublime Text window open with a bunch of unsaved tabs that I use as a buffer space for everything and copy paste it when I’m done. Another reason is persistence. If a webpage decides to refresh or my browser or system crashes, my textarea content is gone. Sublime Text remembers those unsaved tabs no matter what.

robin_reala 4y ago
Sublime does this incredibly well. I’ve got windows open with notes that I created a couple of years ago and haven’t explicitely saved. They’ve survived restarts, Sublime upgrades, whole-OS upgrades and everything inbetween.
drra 4y ago
For me it's also because of anglophonocentric implementation of hotkeys that can wreck what I write if I'm not careful.
michaelmrose 4y ago
Random thing. Tridactyl for firefox lets you open the contents of a text box in an instance of $EDITOR. Save and quit and the text box contains whatever you wrote in buffer. I believe several different addons for multiple browsers provide a similar feature. I find this a nicer experience for formatting and editing. It basically just automates what you are already doing.
phforms 4y ago
The macOS app Raycast has a “Floating Notes” extension that I frequently bring up with a keyboard shortcut for smaller messages. The text gets persisted and it is very lightweight and floats on top of other windows. Before that, I have also used Sublime Text (and I use it for many other things except coding, which is kind of ironic).

octoberfranklin 4y ago

Plus the fact that github has amassed the world's most comprehensive database of keystroke biometrics in the world. One which can safely be assumed to include 99% of all potential hacktivists. Kinda makes the FBI's fingerprint database look lame in comparison.

b3morales 4y ago
What part of GitHub are you referring to?

foobarbecue 4y ago

It never bothered me, until one time I was was carefully crafting a message to a manager on slack. I was doing a few other things at the same time, so I wrote it in fits and starts over 10 mins or so, but I never finished writing it because she messaged me something along the lines of "hey, what is it? You keep typing and then stopping. That normally means people are afraid to tell me something. Whatever it is, you can just tell me." Until then it didn't even occur to me she might be "watching me type." Such a creepy, distracting, "feature".

b3morales 4y ago
Yeah, agree, and it's bad from both ends. When I catch an unexpected typing indicator out of the corner of my eye it becomes a big distraction, anticipating that incoming message. The feature is semi-useful when you're in an active back-and-forth, to prevent some "talking over" each other. And if you've just posted in a channel it's nice to see so you know someone is working on a response. But having it light up for DMs, when you're not waiting for a reply, is a misfeature. It's like having someone stand at the open door of the room while they figure out what they're going to say.