When you are home alone, or are otherwise not worried about bothering anyone else, do you prefer to have some kind of audio playing?
(This audio can be anything: a TV, the radio, music, audio books, podcasts, whatever.)
@siracusa Specifically podcasts at 2.2x speed (yes, even yours).
When working I just need music going long enough to get me into "the zone", then external stimulus no longer register (I've literally had coworkers waving their hands between me and the monitor and it didn't register).
@siracusa whether or not wanting to have music playing is a secret weird thing (I voted yes, my wife would vote no 🤷♂️), taking an Apple TV, wifi router and Sonos speakers on vacation to enable it definitely seems like one to me!
@siracusa There's good and bad sides to being single, but the best is I can crank up my music anytime I like. There's never any moment I have to listen to something I don't want to.
@siracusa your follower question should be about audio during work. I replied yes but like you I cannot multitask and need silence if I need to get work done.
@siracusa John. The dog is always home. Does being the only *human* in the house count as being home alone? #robotornot
@siracusa 80% silence 20% music / podcasts.
5 years into retirement, my podcast listening has almost dried up. Go figure
@siracusa in my case I don’t want any audio if I’m doing anything that requires thoughtful concentration. If I’m just goofing off I’ll put on a podcast.
@siracusa I was hoping this was going to turn into another Mastodon poll (although unlike the faucet one, I think I’ll be in the majority this time)
@siracusa Every single room in the house, including the bathroom has a radio permanently tuned to BBC Radio 4. There is always at least one on, somewhere.
@siracusa I’m always listening to something — podcasts if I have any unlistened to, YouTube videos, livestreams, and if I can’t find anything else, music.
@siracusa podcasts for me. Yet at the same time, when I run (~8 hours/week), I insist on total silence
@siracusa I’m not sure how to answer this since I don’t feel like I need the sound but when I have something I’m wanting to listen to eg a podcast or public radio news.
@siracusa I *prefer* to, but I also realised recently that it's bad for me. Brains need quiet time instead of multi-tasking.
@siracusa interestingly I’m in the first camp despite both parents being no music in the background people
@siracusa For me it is specific to the context. If I am "using the computer", which is what I like to do, silence. Although, this may include games and videos. If I am doing chores, which is what I do not like to do, music + podcasts. But I answered "no".
@siracusa Just finished listening to you talking about this on ATP. Only nuance is add is it depends on what I’m doing. If I’m working (at my computer) or reading, probably not. Otherwise most activities yes, and usually podcasts.
@siracusa if I don’t have audio input of some kind my brain starts full in the void with Disney tunes
@siracusa this is a mental health crutch for me. I can’t sit with my own thoughts so I constantly listen to the thoughts of others.
@siracusa I voted yes, but I'm pretty picky with what kind of audio: good music or local radio for news.
@siracusa I said yes, but it can’t be tv or radio. Music: lovely. Someone talking at me: crap, now I’ve lost all context and for the love of all things make it stop.
@siracusa for me, the purpose of ambient audio is to mask other noises. I prefer either no sound, or sound I am actively listening to. But sometimes I do need music to mask talking or other outdoor noises.
Alone? Not necessarily. Leave the radio off.
@siracusa It might be worth following this up with when people are around. I expected something like these results with the alone clause but I think needing to have some audio running when people are around like Casey is a lot less common.
@siracusa Yes because I sometimes have pretty serious time blindness and hearing an episode or an album come to an end helps me keep track a little better.
@siracusa I wish there was a third option. I almost always listen to something when I am doing something with my hands, cooking, cleaning, chores around the house, or out exercising. But anytime I am reading or writing something I prefer silence.
@siracusa I’ve been checking here obsessively since the latest episode because I knew this poll was inevitable!
@siracusa I don’t usually have something intentionally going as background noise. If I’m taking a break to watch a video, then it’s going, but it’s intentionally. Sometimes I will accidentally leave the white noise on in the bedroom, but I’m not counting that.
@siracusa while I prefer to have audio playing, most of the times i'm just too lazy to turn something on.
@siracusa I often have music playing, but I prefer instrumental jazz or ambient or electronic music.
I cannot stand to have a TV on in the background though. I have no idea how people can deal with that.
@siracusa Listening to you guys talk about this on ATP, I wondered if I was an outlier: I don't have a strong opinion either way. Sometimes I like having audio in the background (but don't need it), and sometimes I enjoy the silence (but a little noise wouldn't be disruptive.) I wonder how many are like me!
@siracusa I need to know if you count white noise. I’m not “playing” it but if I don’t have fans/air purifiers running, the pure silence freaks me out a bit.
@siracusa you should have a sub poll:
Are you autistic?
Yes/no
I bet there are high correlations :)
(Although I’m autistic and have to have audio, and my money says you’re autistic, too, but you’ve said you don’t want audio (even though, like me, you listen to stuff when washing dishes))
@siracusa Yeah that was my inclination too. I wouldn’t want to say I prefer *not* to have audio, but I usually don’t actively prefer having it either.
@siracusa it really depends on what I am doing and what level of focus I require. Cooking. Music. Walking. Podcasts. Working. Electronica. Reading. Nothing.
@siracusa yes, I prefer to have something on, but not when I am working. If I need to concentrate on something, I prefer it to be quiet.
@siracusa I feel like this is a false dichotomy. I often have audio playing (e.g., I listen to a lot of podcasts), but it has nothing to do with an audio/no-audio preference. I do enjoy silence when it’s what I want or need. And I enjoy audio—whether it be actively listening to music, having music on in the background to set a mood, or listening to a podcast while doing chores—when that's what I want. It’s a choice, not a preference.
Maybe this is *my* secret weird thing?
@siracusa I subscribe to over 50 podcasts and have an Audible subscription. There is almost always something playing even with people in the house. It’s not because I feel lonely.
@siracusa there is a pretty big difference between “I do not prefer to have audio playing” and “I prefer not to have audio playing”. You are going to miss everyone who either does not care or has different preferences at different times with this poll. I suspect they are the vast majority.
@siracusa I have phases when I play audio and phases when I don’t. They are about 50/50 (maybe leaning slightly towards no audio). So I didn’t answer in the poll.
@siracusa I have phases when I play audio and phases when I don’t. They are about 50/50 (maybe leaning slightly towards no audio). So I didn’t answer in the poll.
@siracusa if I’m focusing: never
If I’m exercising, driving, doing household chores, …: podcasts or audiobooks
@siracusa the letter of the question is clear, yet I’m still not sure how to respond. I don’t want ambient audio playing though the house. I only want audio that moves with me always. So I would use my Shokz headphones, mostly for podcasts and maybe for audiobooks/radio/music. And so I voted ‘no’.
@siracusa I have tinnitus. Silence makes me notice it more, which can range from mildly distracting to torture. Music or podcasts masks it, so yeah I prefer to have audio at all times.
@siracusa Voted no, because I don’t use it as just a background noise, I frequently listen to stuff, but then quite intentional. Don’t know if that makes sense. 😅
@siracusa To get more accurate responses, it may be better to differentiate between actively listening to audio and ambient noise. On the most recent ATP, you said you dislike it when people keep the TV on as background noise (I’m exactly the same). However, I don’t believe that means you don’t actively listen to podcasts when no one is at home. I answered “yes” only because the question was so broad. A qualifier that specified “background noise” would have caused me to change my answer to “no”.
@siracusa I prefer to use my time to get through my podcast queue. When others are about they don’t want to listen. So your poll isn’t quite asking the right question. 🙂
@siracusa I’m assuming you’re mostly asking podcast fans here, so presumably a slightly biased group^^
@siracusa I will put a podcast on whenever I am doing a m thing which leaves my mind bored (dishes or most cooking). I will not ever have any sound if I am doing anything worth focusing on.
@siracusa I always want audio playing if I'm doing something physical (cooking, cleaning, taking a walk) but if I'm doing anything intellectual (work, reading) I need it to be silent. So I have no easy answer.
@siracusa Your choices are too black and white, where's the "sometimes I do, sometimes I don't" option?
@siracusa my affinity with you on this topic is the thing that has made clear to me which of the three of you I am most similar to after 15+ years of listening.
Am definitely in the “no” category. However, when I’m out walking or commuting I do want something to listen to. Not sure why it’s different.
@siracusa I’ll stick something on when I do a specific job; washing up, cleaning the bathroom, but otherwise I won’t have anything. And that’s as a musician…!
@siracusa Qualified “Yes”. I very much like absolute silence, either to take a ‘moment’ or for reading, but if I am doing anything else there’s usually music on at home if I have the con.
Aside: From here on micro.blog I assume this is a mastodon poll. Now wondering how this fits into ActivityPub. Or perhaps it doesn’t. Thoughts, @manton?
@elyuw Sometimes you do and sometimes you don’t…but is it an exact, perfect 50/50 split? If not, then you’re landing on one “prefer” side or the other.
@siracusa I listen to podcasts if I’m not working. I use my AirPods Pro even if alone. I prefer silence when working, since I’m an app developer, though will listen to instrumental music if my wife is being noisy.
@siracusa would have said no except for podcasts. When I’m doing something alone where a podcast is not distracting I listen. Dishes, yard work, laundry, cleaning, etc. If I’m working I prefer quiet.
@siracusa the white/grey noise of a fan works too, if there’s nothing particular I fancy listening to.
@siracusa Depends. If doing something where I have to think, no. If I don’t have to think (cleaning, doing dishes, etc) then it’s yes. Usually a podcast with AirPods in.
@siracusa Before the pandemic, I could take it or leave it. Since the pandemic, I absolutely need it; I can't do silence if I'm on my own.
(I didn't do great with the lockdowns or with mandatory WFH...)
@siracusa There’s an interesting variant of this - what about in the car? At home I’m fine with silence - in the car I get twitchy after a few minutes if it…
@siracusa Before I had children, I would have answered yes without hesitation. In the meantime, I am quite happy from time to time to be alone with my thoughts when I am home alone.
@siracusa not sure how to vote on this. I do both, it depends. I certainly don’t just put something on for the sake of noise. It drives me crazy when a TV is playing and nobody is watching it.
@manton I would 100% love poll support. Although, for the record, I still prefer micro.blog to Mastodon, even poll-less :P
@siracusa Of course, it’s the follow-up question that’s most important: what do people in each camp think of the other camp?
Do the Silent think the Noisy are sad and lonely? Do the Noisy think the Silent are weird and a bit creepy?
@siracusa music, generally jazz or something chill on Sirius or my playlists. I’ve never listened to a podcast.
@siracusa Missed the poll. I’m probably a no. Generally, I have the ability to tune everything out, including people talking, music, TV, or noises, likely part of being ADHD. So, I can focus solely on whatever I’m doing. For housework, yard work or reading, etc., any audio playing is fine but not required, but not podcasts, as I have to focus on listening to them. If driving alone, it can be music or podcasts, but more often than not, I love the quietness of my BEV, so nothing.
@siracusa I’d vote NO if the survey was still running. Unless I want to actively watch or listen to a show, I want it quiet — no “background” TV or music or podcasts for me - mainly, because I can’t ignore it, and start to pay more attention to the source of noise than whatever else I’m doing. Sadly, after my bought with COVID last December, I’ve had tinnitus so I’m starting to prefer some sort of fan/white noise.
@siracusa whatever it takes to prevent a single thought from entering my head. podcasts while cooking, cleaning, walking the dog, going to the shops. ran out of podcasts? no worries - lets download the back catalogue of a 15 year old podcast and listen through that!
@siracusa wish this were a three-choice poll, as I’m very much in the middle. Don’t actively prefer audio or no audio.