The dictionary defines an introvert as ‘a shy person’.
Or, ‘a person characterized by concern primarily with his or her own thoughts and feelings’.
Park those definitions for a minute and try to recall your school days; particularly the kind of students in your class 8, 9 or 10 who always spoke out in class, in front of the class…with the teacher etc. The vocal ones…or ones we thought were the bold ones. I’m sure you may be one yourself or you would surely remember a few who were. Not every student in the class spoke like that, I’d wager – some were always more vocal than most.
Move the thought to your workplace, to the kind of employees who speak out the most in meetings. They could literally be steering the meeting even if they are not in managerial or leadership position. This is particularly so in informal meetings where there’s no formal agenda or order on who speaks and who listens. There are always people who speak out before others and stay on course.
And then there are students and employees who speak when needed and when they think they have a window of opportunity.
Incidentally, I was, for most of my school days, in a smaller 3rd group – one who hardly ever spoke. That I had a stammering problem added to this state, but this is beside the point.
Now, let us break that 2nd state into two parts – this is the state which I’d believe a majority of people may belong to. They are not hesitant and need not be termed as introverts either. It may be just that they are not so vocal but can speak if need be.
This state, I’d assume, may have 2 aspects to it –
1. Having something meaningful (at least they assume so) to say/add
2. Waiting for what they think is a window of opportunity
The former is a personal trait and perhaps happens over a period of time and based on exposure to multiple sources of information and overall awareness.
As for the latter, the real world is usually ruthless in terms of giving a window of opportunity. One usually needs to grab an opportunity to speak in this highly competitive world.
But the online world?
The real world’s currency is time (not money) and immediacy. Those strangely don’t hold true for the online world where time is a largely fuzzy concept. Time is perhaps what you, as a user, decide and dictate, online. Online world is not ideally immediate, despite what instant messengers and chats want you to believe.
And less said about perceived anonymity in the online world, the better – I’m sure you know that one could be reasonably anonymous online.
Mix all this together – do you think the internet is a heaven for the introverts and the hesitants? Does the online world enable the whole class to become vocal and remove the class divide between the few who raise their hands and speak out loudly and clearly and those who wait for an opportunity to speak (or don’t speak at all)?
The point is, you still need to have a point to make. Or, you need to be confident that the point you have is meaningful enough to share with your class/group. If you have a problem with that, the online world can’t do much. Yes, you could have the bravado to say whatever you wish without analyzing it and let the crowds decide if it makes sense/judge you, but I digress.
The source for this thought is Clay Shirky’s recent statement in The New York Times: ‘Digital media is an amplifier. It tends to make extroverts more extroverted and introverts more introverted’.
To me, this goes completely against conventional wisdom. I’d assume the introverts are not people who don’t have anything to say. Introverts are not dumb idiots. They are simply people with a point of view but without the explicit boldness to share it in front of others, particularly strangers. They could perhaps hold their own with a smaller group of more familiar people.
The online world’s lack of immediacy perhaps enables introverts to assume it as a completely democratic forum to air their perspectives without worrying about who (all) is listening to them. Sharing these while seated alone in their bedroom (for example) is perhaps the reason for this behavior change.
On the other hand, I wonder if extroverts would be annoyed with the online world given how everybody speaks up and has a point of view. I’d consider they would be more interested in the real world where they could demonstrate their relative power over larger groups of people, in person.
A related thought is about how introverts react when their thoughts, shared online, are received. If they are received well, they may be enthused to share more and build connections online and eventually, offline. If they are not received well, that may evoke a different reaction…one that Clay alludes to – they could further go into a shell and share less. But wouldn’t that be more about the content of what they say (said)…because, as with other things online, reactions/responses happen because of multiple factors, unlike face-to-face communication or email?
What are you? An introvert or an extrovert? Or something in between or beyond? How do you view the online world in comparison to the real world? Agree with Clay? I don’t, but I felt this was worth a deeper thought and can’t be dismissed outright, even if that is what I seem to be doing above.
Clay Shirky’s photo via New Statesman.