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I've included a poll question for those extroverts who have lived both before and after the shift to online socializing. (Let's say 2010 is the year a lot of socializing moved online.)
I am an introvert and feel like the internet has enriched my social life, but I could imagine a different experience for extroverts.
No, because extroverts are probably not going to do much socializing online, so nothing changed for them. What even is "online socializing"? Like Zoom parties? UGH no thanks.
I'm an extrovert and even during the pandemic I found ways to spend time with real-life friends and even make some new ones. By July 2020 I was at my neighborhood pool and farmers market, having dinner parties with my "pod," meeting folks at the dog park, etc. We were even back full time in the office by the first part of July.
There's no shortage of people out there who want to do things in person. In fact, I would say the cloistered introverts huddled in front of their screens are a very small minority.
I feel like I walk down the middle between extrovert and introvert. I have friends in both camps.
No, I don't think extroverts suffer because of online socializing. Extreme extroverts make friends wherever they go, and no one's a stranger. I'm thinking of a couple of friends of mine...both of them are inclusive without trying. Everyone is a potential friend.
Yes. Extroverts get energy from being with people. I walk out of a group meeting or a party amped up and recharged, my wife walks out exhausted. You do not get the same boost of energy through online meetings. As online socializing grows, in person meeting opportunities decrease. Most of the people that i know identify as introverts. Introverts seem to like the online stuff a lot better, but for the extroverts, our energy batteries are drying up.
For me online socializing is something extra I do. It's a way to keep in touch with friends I can't meet cause we love in different countries or even have discussions with people I don't know, like on citydata.
What was hard was not being able to go out as much or as carefree as I wanted to, but I can't say it had much to do with a "shift". Right now it has mostly gone back to normal, so I'm not really sure there is a shift to begin with ^^;
I feel like I walk down the middle between extrovert and introvert. I have friends in both camps.
No, I don't think extroverts suffer because of online socializing. Extreme extroverts make friends wherever they go, and no one's a stranger. I'm thinking of a couple of friends of mine...both of them are inclusive without trying. Everyone is a potential friend.
I'm a little bit of both, myself. But when I'm doing my extrovert thing, I'm that one where everybody is a possible friend.
I did not enjoy socializing anywhere near as much when we all had to wear masks. It was harder to hear people speak and to be heard. I still got together with a very select, very few people during the height of the pandemic, but I was "in" a great deal more than previously. I still am, because I work from home and I've moved to a new city in the last year.
I've tried a bit to get out and socialize in my new locale, but I admit I have not met anyone I'm super enthusiastic about cultivating an ongoing friendship with. I'm abruptly reminded that I have not had anywhere near as good a time socially, anywhere I've lived besides Colorado (my old home, for 10 years before I moved here.) I went back last week for a visit and I was almost overwhelmed emotionally by how loved I felt by so many friends.
I don't really consider this to be a shift because of "socializing moving online." Before Covid, I used online social contact to maintain distanced friendships but I'd get together with people from the internet in person sometimes. Online facilitated real life. It's working from home and moving that have changed it all for me.
Sometimes I wonder if I ought to voluntarily go work in the office, we do have a location in this area...but I'm lazy and I don't feel like it. Once you get used to working from home... Yeah. Think I just need to keep going out to social gatherings, keep trying to connect. And enjoy my twice annual trips to Colorado until I can move back.
I honestly don't even believe in the idea of extroverts. Many "extroverts" still do a lot of things indoors, such as communicating online, doing phone calls, gardening, watching TV shows or movies. I think no one is purely extroverted, although ultra introverts definitely do exist.
I honestly don't even believe in the idea of extroverts. Many "extroverts" still do a lot of things indoors, such as communicating online, doing phone calls, gardening, watching TV shows or movies. I think no one is purely extroverted, although ultra introverts definitely do exist.
I have heard it defined as which thing makes you feel "recharged" versus "exhausted."
Personally, I define it slightly differently. For me the question is... If you lack alone time for a while, to do quiet activities on your own, will you feel emotionally or mentally unwell? Restless? Anxious? Unhappy?
If you don't get out and interact with other people socially for a while, same...will you feel depressed, anxious, restless, unhappy?
Which one is easier to live without?
For me... I can be on my own in my home for a time but eventually I feel super restless. Nothing sounds good. I don't want to read a book, watch a show, play a game or do a puzzle. It feels like standing in the kitchen and nothing sounds good to eat even though I am hungry, it feels like being a ghost haunting my home. I sleep too much just to pass the time. The boredom is almost mentally painful.
And if I find a way to go out and socialize? I feel SO MUCH BETTER after I do so. I feel..."recharged."
Being an extrovert does not mean that I am never happy alone or constantly a big, loud, life of the party type.
Just like being an introvert doesn't necessarily mean that someone is a shut in who never wants to talk to anyone.
I think that true extremes are fairly rare. And the most intense examples of extreme introversion probably have something else going on besides just being "an introvert."
I honestly don't even believe in the idea of extroverts. Many "extroverts" still do a lot of things indoors, such as communicating online, doing phone calls, gardening, watching TV shows or movies. I think no one is purely extroverted, although ultra introverts definitely do exist.
This doesn't make any sense. The commonly accepted definitions of introversion and extraversion are that introverts are drained by a lot of social activity, and extraverts are energized by it. It has nothing to do with indoors or outdoors, or social anxiety. Introverts can be confident and charismatic, and extraverts can be painfully shy. The difference is that while the introvert might have had a great time at the party, they feel mentally wiped out. The extravert is pumped and ready for more.
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