I always find it amusing trying to explain to extroverts how I just don't find social situations inherently exciting, since most of them react like they can't fathom the very concept. Like, if a friend phones me up and says "hey, want to join me, X, Y, and Z? we're going downtown", my initial reaction is not 
but rather 
at the thought of having to do the following:
1) Ride public transit for 1 hour while making pointless small talk
2) Walk around downtown for 1 hour while still talking about nothing interesting
3) Eat dinner for 1 hour while continuing to talk nothing about nothing
4) Walk around downtown for another hour while nothing talking nothing about nothing
5) Ride public transit back for yet another hour while nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing
More likely than not, if I accept, I get back to my house at the end of it all wishing I hadn't wasted 5 hours of my life (and some $) that I could have spent doing something actually enjoyable. Socializing is only enjoyable to me if I really enjoy being with the people involved, or we're doing/talking about something fun/important (which are all narrow categories). To anybody who has ever impatiently tapped their foot while waiting for something to get over with, that's my mental state whenever I socialize for the sole sake of socializing. Next time, I'm declining your invitation and getting back to my anime marathon / poker session / impromptu nap / etc. and feeling great about it.
/rant that I needed to get off my chest...I've met autistic people who feel the same way about social interaction, which I think is interesting and explains some of what I meant in my previous post.
Edit - also, practically none of this post applies to online interaction at all.
but rather at the thought of having to do the following:1) Ride public transit for 1 hour while making pointless small talk
2) Walk around downtown for 1 hour while still talking about nothing interesting
3) Eat dinner for 1 hour while continuing to talk nothing about nothing
4) Walk around downtown for another hour while nothing talking nothing about nothing
5) Ride public transit back for yet another hour while nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing
More likely than not, if I accept, I get back to my house at the end of it all wishing I hadn't wasted 5 hours of my life (and some $) that I could have spent doing something actually enjoyable. Socializing is only enjoyable to me if I really enjoy being with the people involved, or we're doing/talking about something fun/important (which are all narrow categories). To anybody who has ever impatiently tapped their foot while waiting for something to get over with, that's my mental state whenever I socialize for the sole sake of socializing. Next time, I'm declining your invitation and getting back to my anime marathon / poker session / impromptu nap / etc. and feeling great about it.
/rant that I needed to get off my chest...I've met autistic people who feel the same way about social interaction, which I think is interesting and explains some of what I meant in my previous post.
Edit - also, practically none of this post applies to online interaction at all.