Social Media - An Opportunity for the Introvert

There's a huge opportunity lying out there for introverts, waiting to be seized and used to your fullest advantage.

I've been wanting to blog about introversion for awhile now, but I wasn't sure what I could add to the conversation. There are a few websites and discussion boards out there that either focus on introversion or else reference it periodically. I just wasn't sure if I could add much to the discuission

Now I think I see an opportunity to connect two topics that interest me: introversion and social media.

I was inspired by a recent blog post at Every Dot Connects. The author wrote a short post that asks whether social media favors the extrovert or the introvert. There were a number of great comments about the article. There were a number of opinions expressed on the topic - it was a good conversation. Wish I'd seen it sooner!

I think that social media and the Web can level the playing field for introverts. I think it's an awesome opportunity.

I think I've found my focus!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Introversion Sells Magazines

Introversion caught the attention of the mainstream media a few years ago with a high profile essay in the Atlantic Monthly by Jonathan Rauch called Caring For Your Introvert. Rauch's essay, in which he claimed to be an introvert, received a huge response from readers. In fact, this article is the most popular article of the magazine's on-line version.

Rauch was interviewed by fellow writer Sage Stossel in early 2006 in the article Introverts of the World, Unite! to talk about the impact of his article. The response to Rauch's article was so powerful that the Atlantic Monthly shared reader responses in a 2006 follow-up article called The Introversy Continues.

If you are wondering if you might be an introvert, I'd recommend that you read Caring For Your Introvert. It's a good overview on the topic.

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

The Power of the Inwardly Focused

People love labels - this can be a good or a bad thing.

Whether your label is:

- country of origin
- body type
- favorite sports club
- political views
- religious beliefs
- personality attributes

you can be sure that someone out there will find a label for you.

This blog will be talking about a special label: the introvert. Chances are, if you're an introvert you already know this, either consciously or instinctively. If you're not an introvert, you might not understand what it is all about. If fact, you might think that introversion is impossible.

If you:

- like spending time by yourself, with your own thoughts
- dislike small talk
- are very analytical in nature
- find it difficult to be in groups for long periods of time

You might be an introvert. Most people in this world tend to be our opposites: the extroverts.

The purpose of this blog is to identify both the strengths and the challenges of being an introvert. I hope to give you links to helpful resources, stimulate your thoughts, and even give you a chance to join an ongoing dialog.

I am not a health care professional, nor do I have any extensive education and training about psychiatry, psychology, or counselling. All I can do is give some ideas and direct you towards some helpful resources. But if I can help just one person to understand themselves a bit better and make life a bit more manageable for them, that's good enough for me.

More to come. Thanks for reading.

Technorati Profile

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Note: I am also the author of The Uncanny Broadcasting Brain Blog.