POLL: What side of the spacebar do you type on?

[Potatomonkey]

http://www.strawpoll.me/12151342 A little poll I made.

[daerid]

Right.

I've tried going ambidextrous or using left, but it never sticks

[Hyde]

lol I'm surprised there's so many left thumb user, I always assume right handed people will use right thumb.

But yeah I think I tried using both too and it's too awkward, can only use one side.

[opensecret]

lol I'm surprised there's so many left thumb user, I always assume right handed people will use right thumb.

I'm left-handed, but use the right thumb.  I have no idea why.  It's clearly advantageous to shift with one hand while hitting a key with the other, and I do that automatically.  But there seems to be no advantage to ambidextrous spacebarring. 

[krumbprone]

Right handed and right thumb. Never really paid attention to this until now. Just tried with left thumb and it was awkward, so I'm sure I've never left thumbed the space bar.

Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

[E3E]

I can do both, but right is my preference. I used left when my right thumb developed RSI issues and I had to stay off of it to heal. I'm a little more clumsy with my left, but I can still type just fine and it feels fine too.

[kekman]

huh, i never noticed that i only use my right side. I always thought i used both. interesting to see the results so even though

[smithyithy]

Right-handed, left thumb or right index finger 

[tp4tissue]

Right side is the correct side on default qwerty..  because left hand letters are much more common than right hand letters, the right space use would balance out the total key load per hand.

[oneproduct]

Left, because PC gaming has your right hand on your mouse and your left hand on WASD, with spacebar for jump.

[Coreda]

Almost precisely split between L/R. (I voted right).

[pixelpusher]

WHO ARE THESE FREAKS USING THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SPACE BAR?

I have noticed that I press it very close to the center, just slightly to the right of the switch.  I want to go with split shift, but I'm pretty sure every combo out there presently would result in me hitting the gap or the wrong key

I need like a 2 unit/4.25 unit split.   

[ArchDill]

Right

[majstor]

Right

[iLLucionist]

For real? fitty-fitty? FITTY FITTY?

Man.. what a cliff hanger

[ander]

What an interesting question. Who among us ever thought of that?

Till now, I assumed I used whichever thumb was convenient. But no, I use my right, being right-handed, I guess. Is that how it usually works?

And as interesting as this may be, do you think the more time we spend discussing it could be an indicator of how much we need to, you know, get lives? If so, this poll could be more useful that we initially supposed. (My wife just asked me to take out the kitchen garbage, and I said, "I can't, I'm talking with the forum guys about which thumbs we use to press our spacebars," and she gave me her "I married this guy—why?" look.)

[ander]

Now that I've thought about it (which, in itself, is unusual), this poll has raised several more questions for me:

• Would a more accurate question have been, "Which thumb do you use on the spacebar?" Or did the OP really wonder which side of it we used? (Do some people actually use their R thumbs on the L sides of their spacebars, or vice versa?)

• Considering that 82–90% of people are right-handed, do the poll's evenly-divided results imply that a substantial number of right-handed people type on the left sides of their spacebars? Why would they do that? Could it be a reflection of the typical KB geek's rebellious, devil-may-care nature?

• If this really is about the side of the spacebar we use, rather than which thumb(s) we use on it, I guess I should've answered "Other" rather than "Right", as I use my right thumb squarely in the middle of the spacebar. Did anyone answer "Other" for this reason? If so, should the question actually have been "Which part of the spacebar do you use?", and the possible answers "Left / Right / Center"?

[smithyithy]

I sat down with my V60 last night and did a decent typing session, I'd say I was almost always using my right forefinger for space. Must just be habit.

[Thereminz]

Usually the right or center right when typing

But more on the left when gaming

[Suruga Devil]

Wow, I hadn't even thought about which side I used. When I tried to type after reading the question, I couldn't figure out how to hit the spacebar for a few seconds. Thinking about it made be unable to revert to my muscle memory 

It'd be interesting to see which side gamers use versus people who don't game. I never use spacebar when I'm gaming as I have 'jump' bound to the mousewheel, but most people would be forced to use the left side of the keyboard when gaming with WASD. Thoughts?

[y11971alex]

I space on the opposite side of the last character.  Right thumb follows "follows" but left thumb would follow the full stop.  The only exception is for typing more than one space at a time, in which case it's always the same thumb through all consecutive white spaces.

[jcoffin1981]

I use exclusively my right; I'm right handed.  I have tried left and it's awkward.  My space bars have a shiny spot where my thumb sits. 

I'd be curious about other peoples use of right and left shift as well.  I use exclusively the left, which can be a little awkward when capitalizing a letter typed with the left hand.  The right shift is too far away from my pinky and it slows me down considerably.  I seem to lack dexerity in that finger.

[UrQuanMaster]

I thought I only used my right, or at least vast majority. But the patina on this ABS keycap says I use both sides, maybe 25/75 or 33/66, L vs R.

[absyrd]

I'm right-handed. Only hit space with left thumb.

[rowdy]

Cast my vote, fwiw.  A few more have voted, still split between left and right.  I use right only, for the record.

[SBJ]

Still even, cast my vote.

[DALExSNAIL]

With the amount of time I spend on MMOs I always thought I would end up using my left thumb, but it turned out the opposite. I even kind of curl in my left thumb to my palm haha.

[SpectreiiI]

Right 90% of the time; for 2 very specific reasons.

1st and foremost, a majority of the buttons that I shift are right handed, especially since I code. Spacing with the same hand that I'may shifting with is terribly clunky while coding.

2nd, left thumb has to be reserved for Fn, because navigation keys are best actuated on the right symbol keys, especially in coding.