Been wondering if I’m a social introvert?
Don’t get me wrong I love socialising and social settings but I also like to decompress alone in my own space. Melinda aka Miss Geeky gave a great presentation at Hacked.io. Some of the things she mentions I can identify with
I realized that most people don’t have a good understanding of what introversion and extraversion is. Typically they think that being an introvert means you’re quiet and shy, while being an extrovert is seen as being social and outgoing. And that’s not exactly right.
For me, introversion and extraversion is all about energy: what recharges you and what drains you? Extroverts find energy in interaction: they recharge by being around people, by interacting with what’s outside themselves. Introverts, on the other hand, will get their energy from reflection: they recharge by looking inwards, by being alone. So this does mean that extroverts will be much more likely to be social and outgoing, and that introverts will be much more likely to be quiet and shy. But that’s not always the case. You can have extroverts that are shy. And you can have introverts that are social and outgoing.
My term for this group of social introverts: social caterpillars.
I can get on board with this… Although most people think I’m a extrovert (ok I slightly do too), most of the things I do tend to match what introverts do in certain situations. Over time I’ve gotten better at being extroverted (without getting loud and annoying) but its not all me. Maybe this is why I can understand the view points of introverts?
Anyway its a good presentation and something I’d like to follow up on, in the future.
