social battery

social battery (plural social batteries)

1. (informal, often in the plural) A notional battery representing one's energy for socializing, with the need to be periodically recharged.
   • 2016 November 11, Fleur Morrison, “Introverts Can Be Saved By The Book”, in HuffPost‎^[1], archived from the original on 2023-09-07:

     Although I enjoyed many social aspects of school, as an introvert I found some days particularly long and exhausting. These were times when books really came into their own for me, as I retreated into the school library to recharge my social batteries.

   • 2018 June 20, Pierre-Antoine Louis, quoting Colton Smith, “Readers on Pride Month and L.G.B.T. Rights: ’An Ongoing Battle’.”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-09:

     I have never been to pride. Not that I don't like it, it's just not my thing. Too many fabulous queens and kings in one place really drains my social batteries.

   • 2018 November 7, Karl Moore, “Neither introvert nor extrovert? You need a break too”, in The Globe and Mail‎^[3], Toronto, ON: The Woodbridge Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-01-25:

     That is, when an ambivert has acted like an introvert for some time, they need to recharge their social batteries by taking what we would typically describe as an extrovert break. After being alone, they crave social stimulation.

   • 2022 August 26, Eliza Brooke, “The introvert's guide to actually enjoying a party”, in Vox‎^[4], archived from the original on 2023-07-05:

     If you tend to be more introverted, the realization that your social battery doesn't hold a charge for the full duration of a social gathering can bring up feelings of discomfort or shame. You may worry that you're bringing down the vibe or that people will leave with a middling impression of you, even as your own need for some quiet time isn't being met. But by accepting your battery life for what it is and getting to know the different factors that support or strain it, you stand a better chance of getting through the night in a stress-free way — and of actually enjoying yourself in the process.

   • 2022 December 15, Nikki Natividad, “An Introvert's Guide to Surviving the Holidays”, in VICE‎^[5], archived from the original on 2023-05-03:

     While introversion is a spectrum, and not all introverts necessarily want to spend Christmas and the holidays alone, there are a few things that tie them together: a limited social battery, a low tolerance for external stimulation, and a preference for smaller groups.

   • 2023 May 18, Anita Chaudhuri, quoting Hope Kelaher, “I've struggled to make friends since moving abroad – and it's making me lonely”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[6], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-08-31:

     We now live in a world where people's social battery and capacity for friendship is slightly more limited than it was. Some of us are still out of practice.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see social,‎ battery.
   • 1881 September 3, “The Opportunity of Unitarianism”, in The Christian Life: A Unitarian Journal, volume 7, London, →OCLC, page 432:

     In the former case he may expose himself to a social battery of hostile criticism or even obloquy; […]

   • 1887 October 1, “The Jullabad Tragedy”, in Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science and Arts, volume 64, Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers Publishers, →OCLC, page 632:

     Mrs Colonel Speedy, sitting in council over a five o’clock tea in her veranda, decreed that she herself and four other ladies of lesser degree should ‘call on’ the poor bride in due order of precedence, and bring all the social battery of the station to her relief.

   • 2001 June 1, Bob Belden, Steve Wynn, “Noir Valleys”, in The Boston Phoenix, volume 30, number 22, Boston, Mass.: The Phoenix Media/Communications Group, →OCLC, page 22:

     Yet Belden’s Dahlia sounds little like Ellroy’s novel, which is a mass of piling rants, staccato prose slugs, and vicious social battery (complete with explicit descriptions of Short’s disemboweled body as a graph of gashes, cuts, bruises, and cigarette burns).