Editing 2801: Contact Merge

{{comic
| number    = 2801
| date      = July 12, 2023
| title     = Contact Merge
| image     = contact_merge_2x.png
| imagesize = 353x429px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = I actually kind of feel like John and Surf King wouldn't like each other, which is a lot to unpack.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is in contact with someone in a some typical text-chat context, who uses the nickname of "Surf King". His phone also knows of a person called John, which seems to be the real name of the same person, although Cueball appears to have been unaware or forgetful of that fact. The humor arises when Cueball mentions this to "Surf King", who is flabbergasted that Cueball is not aware of this fact.

Some algorithm that manages the contact-list has been offering (or trying) to merge the contact details into a single entry, as having the same core details, which intrigues Cueball but without him understanding why. Instead he directs a comment about this to "@Surf King", who apparently did not deign to respond (a typed-out ellipsis as a common shorthand for being rendered speechless, as opposed to the temporary "Currently typing" ellipsis).

Cueball's follow-up comment is clearly prompted by the realization that his 'two' contacts both share an interest in surfing, perhaps having been in separate group conversations with both John and Surf King personae in the interim, and he decides to revisit the issue. But from Surf King's response it looks like Cueball and Surf King have been chatting (indeed, in this specific chatroom) for several years, making it mildly impressive that Cueball apparently never made the connection between his identities in that time.

The title text implies that Cueball has had second thoughts about the compatibility of Surf King/John with himself, having picked up further cues from either or both of subsequent chats with him (outside of this particular channel) that reduce the perceived social compatibility. This could be explained by John being far more (or differently) extrovert when interacting via his more sporty pseudonym, or possibly by having subtly changed attitudes and interests over time while not actually using one or other identity to update others' impressions of him. Either of these can be due to his perhaps having let the account of his youth go mostly idle, instead interacting primarily by with the other. In professional contexts, people have been switching to using their given name, whereas people also switch to pseudonyms to protect themselves from harassment or identity theft. It could also simply be that John does not respond well to people like himself, instead having a personality that gravitates to a complementary personality rather than a similar one.

This is another example of Cueball demonstrating [[1674: Adult|extremely nerdy habits]]. This can possibly be explained by developing different kinds of experiences at a significantly different rates than more extroverted and social individuals due to a much higher proportion of the time and focus in both childhood and adulthood spent doing technical work. Due to this different proportion of experiences, such people can miss normal conversational implications like this, while demonstrating great aptitude in less common scenarios such as engineering. Many see these kinds of people as the intended readership of the comic.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball is holding a phone and chatting in DMs]
:Cueball: @Surf King Weird, my phone keeps trying to merge your contact with John's
:Surf King: ...
:Cueball: Hey, you two should meet up-He's into surfing too
:Surf King: Oh my God
:Surf King: Are you serious
:Surf King: You've been in this chat with me for '''four years!'''

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I wonder who holds the record for accidentally doing this the longest.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Phones]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]