I repeatedly click and drag, click and drag. I have no idea why I do it.
Poll: Do you select text while reading?
281–290 of 366 posts
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good call. Like how I used to drag highlight boxes on the desktop when I was thinking of what to do next. I never wanted to select anything, I just liked to do it.
While thinking of what to do next? Was this before the internet?
To be honest, I'm not quite sure. Perhaps it wasn't to do with "thinking of what to do next", perhaps I just made that up in my memories.
However, I have clear memories of dragging boxes back and forth. They are so clear that I even remember inching the edge of the box closer and closer to the edge of an icon and seeing when it would select it. Also, I remember making the box thinner and thinner until it would either disappear, or you would get a single thick line when the dashed lines on either side were lined up with each other.
The only thing I don't remember is why or when I did it :)
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#283When people see that I highlight text while I'm reading, they always want to know what practical reason it serves. The simplest answer is that it kind of helps me track the text, but it's less than that. It also isn't quite just a nervous habit. The only description that makes sense to me is that it feels like a physical connection to the page. More like spinning a pen, or rolling an object in your hand while you thi…
Each sentence or paragraph is another hurdle to clear. Marking a selection provides the satisfaction of marking that I cleared it (and allows me to avoid rereading too much when resuming after an interruption or break).
I get extra annoyed when something prevents this. For example, a PDF viewer that loses a selection on a shift-click, rather than expanding it. I feel this actually increases the effort of reading, by taking away the easy tracking benefit.
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#284Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep, same. Sites that do things like auto-search highlighted words drive me nuts because of it.
ALA New York Times. Although, I checked right before writing this, and it seems they got rid of it, or at least, they replaced it with a not less annoying, but potentially more profitable full page pop-up that forces you to sign up. I wonder if once singed, they have the auto-search. Can anyone confirm?
I run noscript, solves that problem.
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#285On a related note, at least in Windows, when triple-clicking to select a paragraph, immediate subsequent clicks (any number) do absolutely nothing. This really bothers me when selecting words because sometimes I triple-click instead of double-click by accident, and I want to undo this but it requires waiting.
Yeah, windows multi-click text selection seems completely weird to me, and very frustrating when coming from other platforms... [Besides the simple "not what I'm used to" factor, any UI behavior that requires waiting seems pretty dubious to me...]
"any UI behavior that requires waiting seems pretty dubious to me..."
Deep down I really agree with that, but I become conflicted when I consider settings with severe limitations that have little else to turn to. For example: the timed hover to select on some Kinect games: touch screens that use longpress as a substitute for right-click; touchscreen keyboards with longpress as a shift-like behavior. It somehow seems regretfully acceptable when dealing with the limitations of a touch screen, single button, or no button environment.
One case where I think it is ok to require waiting are "Ejector seat button next to the radio" type situations where user action could have potentially disastrous consequences: I am glad I have to hold down my power button for some time to force a hardware restart.
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#286Usually - when I'm reading - I don't have my hand on the mouse... Just they keyboard, so no... Funny how many people do... It would seem distracting to me.
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#287correlations to age and wearing glasses would be interesting
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#288And how many also are OCD?
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#289No I don't. I also don't move my lips while reading.
Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?
#290No