what's the term for someone who is very much an extrovert, but absolutely needs a certain amount of alone time/down time?

That's me too, although I think for me the line isn't socializing/alone time, it's need-to-cope/others-can-cope. More than alone time I just need down time, but I'm totally fine if down time involves hanging with friends while someone else plans dinner.

I also seem to be singular in my opinion that the time I spend on this board feels like socializing with others, not being alone. But maybe that's part of why b.org works so well, the extroverts can come by and socialize and the introverts can hang out without feeling like they have to put themselves out there.

I definitely tend towards extrovert, but when it's a new crowd for me I tend to be a people watcher.

I often feel terribly shy when I meet Buffistas in person, sadly. I mean, you'd think that I'd be able to talk to people I've spoken to online daily for 12 years, but sometimes, no.

Me, too. I have lots of backstory and interesting,"So how's that [thingy] going?" stuff associated with people's handles, but it's hard for me to convert that to faces. And I can't go back up the thread to figure out a conversation topic in a face to face situation.

Also, yay Nilly baby!

I definitely tend towards extrovert, but when it's a new crowd for me I tend to be a people watcher.

I am ND's ring twin AND extrovert twin! Though I'm needing more and more time alone to recharge, I do love meeting people/hanging out with people/hosting parties, etc. As might be obvious.

I also seem to be singular in my opinion that the time I spend on this board feels like socializing with others, not being alone.

Hm, I think it's more like, this board is the kind of socializing I like. Communicating online is all the good parts of having a social life while still letting me be more or less a hermit.

Timelies all!

Congrats to Nilly and family on the newest addition!

I love random new people, but they need to keep to my schedule, and also not interrupt. There will be breaks for applause in due time.

speaking of which, thank God training is over. Now rush hours. And then work on the new project.

I suck at networking in groups, because I have a terrible time approaching strangers or inserting myself into a conversation. My hands turn cold. I sweat. I have been known to get to an event; start to enter; and then turn around and go home. If I actually manage to get into a conversation, I usually talk too much. I also have phone fear. I can call people as a reporter, because reporter me is practically an alter ego.

I feel like being here is social interaction, but when I'm feeling asocial, I can read and not post. Sometimes I have the fear of sounding stupid or hurting someone's feelings that I have in real life, and write whole posts and then delete them.

I'm nodding with Ginger. And then there are whole swathes of time when...no words. Lots of feelings, and nods, even smiles or tears, but when I try to put words together, it's like someone dropped the scrabble tiles on the floor.

I regretted leaving early that night at your reading, Amy, because staying would have been fun. I just...level reached.

Jessica, even if the books don't get wet, they'd swell from the steam! I get twitchy looking at antique books photographed on the porch railing, or in a rainy window, or on the dewy grass... Damp and books, unmixy things!

Ironically, I love hosting parties. Because when you're the host, it's incredibly easy to control the level of interaction by excusing yourself to go check on something in the kitchen. So much easier than being a guest with nothing to do except talk!

BRAIN TWIN!

Seriously, I told my therapist this! Also, if I'm doing something concrete and useful, like making pancakes for a brunch, I am satisfying people without having to interact!

This. I've been there as a witness, and done it myself. Only, like Amy, I can manage small talk for a greater or lesser time before I have to go gather up dirty dishes, or rearrange the chairs, or inventory the canned goods, even if it isn't my house. You know, just in case. And once the party's over and everybody's left and the dishes are all done and put away and the carpet's swept and the sofa blanket shaken and refolded, I realize I'm starving, because I was too jacked to eat while people were there. I also usually wander around with a glass of water, maybe with a splash of coffee, tea, or cola for color. Drinking in company is no help, it only makes me tighter-controlled.

As for being more relaxed with Buffistas, I remember the days planning for one of the early F2Fs, inquiring about the nearness of a stairwell, since I'd be spending a lot of time there. By the end of the evening, I think we had more people planning to hang out in the stairwell than "together" in the hospitality suite. Irony R often Buffistas.

I suck at networking in groups, because I have a terrible time approaching strangers or inserting myself into a conversation.

Oh yeah, that's the worst. I've figured out some techniques, but I still never meet the right people. "Any people" is a start, though!