When the Internet was first
invented, it allowed users to interact with each other online, in addition to providing
other useful services. To introverts, who tend to dislike interacting with
others face to face, this online interaction is preferable. Introverts have
become more of a mainstream topic and more understood, and I think that online
social interaction is one of the causes. Anonymous, online social media
platforms offer a place for introverts to interact and express themselves in a
way that is preferable to them.
In the article “Classifyingand Profiling Social Networking Site Users,” a group of researchers set out to
classify what type of people used social networking sites so that businesses
could properly advertise to their audiences (del-Amo, del-Carmen,
Lorenzo-Romero, & Gomez-Boria 547). The article states that there are four
reasons that people use social networking sites: socializing, entertainment,
self-status seeking, and information (547). The researchers used these four
needs to help categorize the types of users. The study grouped social
networking users into four types: the introvert user, the novel user, the
versatile user, and the expert-communicator user (548).
The study showed that the
introvert users were the smallest group at 18.82 percent, and that they were
the least active on social networking sites (548). This group does not update
their profiles very often, do not share much, spend less than an hour on the
sites a week, and mainly use it to send private messages to contacts (548). I
do not wholeheartedly agree that this group represents all introverts, but I
can definitely see how many introverts are not as active on heavily social
sites like Facebook. They do contrast highly with the versatile and expert-communicator
users (who together make up 56.13 percent of users) who share and post
regularly and are on the sites for many hours each day (550). These users seem
like the kind of people I see on my Facebook newsfeed: the extroverted ones who
thrive on connecting with other people. Introverts are not really attracted to
that type of online escape. As an introvert myself, I tire of Facebook fairly
quickly after looking at what my “friends” have posted, and instead go to other
social media sites that are more entertaining to me, such as Pinterest or
Tumblr. I think that is why introverts can be found on the more anonymous
social networking sites, and the sites that offer more than just social
interaction, like Pinterest or Tumblr.
This image from Tumblr
explains how the way we think about online social interactions have changed.
When social media sites were first beginning, it was a fear that you would be
stalked by online predators and then kidnapped or something. While that fear is
still alive today, it is not nearly as strong as we have gotten accustomed to
social media and let go of some of our privacy issues. Now the “fear” of
Internet users is that their friends and family and other “real life”
relationships will find them on the Internet. I think this is a fear of
introverts because they view the Internet as a form of escape from social
interactions, and want to distance themselves and have a break from the real
relationships they have outside of social media.
Another article, “On theInternet No One Knows I’m an Introvert,” explains how introverts thrive in
anonymous social networking sites. The article is from 2002, so it is pretty
dated to be discussing social media, but the concepts still remain true and
relevant to today. The researchers state that social communication is one of
the most popular uses of the Internet (Yair, Wainapel, & Fox 125). With
that in mind, it is important to find out what using the Internet does to
users’ real life social communication. One study discussed in the article lead some
researchers to believe that Internet use leads to depression and loneliness in
users (125). The authors of the article disagree with this study by saying that
the Internet is not just used by shy and quiet people, but by all kinds of
personality types using a variety of online services (125). Therefore, because
of the different personality types and amount of time spent on the Internet, the
cause of depression cannot be solely blamed on the Internet (125).
A different study showed
that introverts found a kind of sanctuary on the Internet where there was not a
stigma associated with introversion, and they could build relationships with
other introverts (125). The researchers go on to say that there are two
characteristics of online interaction (125). The first is that there is
anonymity and no physical presence, and the second is that there is more
control over the social interactions because they can take time to think about
what they want to say as well as log in and out of the site whenever they wish
(125).
That idea is
demonstrated in this image. You can end a conversation whenever you would like
in an online conversation, but the same is not true for a real life
conversation. You have to patiently wait for them to stop speaking, or else you
will seem rude and probably ruin that relationship. Online conversations,
however, end suddenly for all types of reasons, and aren’t seen as rude as it
would be in person.
Since introverts
receive their energy from inside themselves instead of others, the researchers
have determined that introverts are motivated to interact on the Internet
because of self-related motives (126). Their social needs are not met
throughout the day in their daily interactions, so they seek them on the
Internet (126). They go on to explain a concept called the “real me,” which is
the ability to express your real self in a social environment (126). They
stress that finding one’s true self is essential to the well being of a human,
and if a person can’t find it through normal social interaction, then they will
find it elsewhere, in this case, on the Internet (126). The researchers proved
that introverts do this through a study that they ran.
It was predicted
that introverts would find their “real me” on the Internet rather than in real
life, and that extraverts would find it in real life interactions rather than
on the Internet (126). They tested 40 “chat users” from ages 20-32, who entered
into a chat room and were asked a take part in a discussion for twenty minutes
(126). Participants also completed a questionnaire which asked them questions
like “Do you think that you reveal more about yourself to people you know from
the Internet than to real-life friends?” and “Are there things your Internet
friends know about you that you cannot share with real-life friends?” (126)
The results
confirmed the prediction that introverted people find their true self through
the Internet while extraverted find it through traditional social interactions
(127).
This proves that introverts are
better at expressing themselves in a more anonymous environment, and that they
thrive better on the Internet where they are distanced from real life
interactions. That is why introverts tend to flock towards more anonymous
social networking sites like Tumblr or the Whisper app.
I
keep mentioning Tumblr because it’s one of the places that I see the most
introverted people, or what I perceive as introverted people. Seeing interesting
and weird Tumblr users interact with each other is probably my favorite part of
the Internet. As an introvert, I love observing rather than participating, and
Tumblr is a great place to do that. Most of the things I follow are fan pages
of the TV shows and movies I like, and I do repost content that I find amusing
every once in a while. It allows me to unleash my nerdy side that I don’t
always show in real life to my friends and family, without the fear of
judgment. That is why introverts are so drawn to sites like this, because they
can be their true selves without having to worry about having people think a
certain way about them.
There
are some very unique and interesting individuals on the Tumblr website, and
these images show that. People can say some very strange things, and it makes
for some great humor. It may not be the most polite thing in the world to turn
someone’s post about being a vegetarian into a completely ridiculous
conversation that is way off topic, but on the Internet, people can mostly get
away with it because of the element of anonymity. The person may block you, but
that shouldn’t bother you because you were not friends with them in the first
place. There is a fine line between being funny and being hurtful, however, and
anonymity creates much more freedom for bullies, but that is a topic for
another paper.
This
is my own personal observation, but I think that since introverts socialize
less than extraverts, they become more involved in escapism in the form of
books, movies, and television shows. Tumblr is the home to many crazy fans, or
fandoms, as they are usually referred to as. There are often disputes among
fandoms and cross-fandoms, and really strange Photoshop creations that are on
display for the world to see. Users have virtually no restraint because they
know they are anonymous. Although most people would probably find the behavior
strange, I think it’s rather nice that people who are passionate about the same
things can find each other and share information or just rant to each other
about what they love about their favorite works of fiction.
Another
anonymous platform that has surfaced fairly recently are mobile apps such as
Whisper and Secret. These platforms allow users to be completely anonymous as
they post confession-type pictures to the apps. These apps are especially helpful
for introverts, or anyone who has something they want to share, but not with
people they know. The following pictures are examples of posts on the Whisper
app, all of which deal with introversion.
In
the cases of these posts, Whisper is a place to vent about how introverts are
tired of being labeled and misunderstood. I have certainly felt the same way as
each of the users in the posts. Introverts prefer to be on their own, so they
do not always have someone nearby to vent their feelings to, or have anybody at
all with whom they feel they can trust. It is very helpful that there is a
resource that introverts can use to share their inner thoughts without actually
having to interact with anyone.
People
may think that the Internet has caused society, especially young people, to
become more reclusive. Introverts have been around since the beginning of
mankind, however, so it is not the Internet that has caused introversion, but
rather the Internet adapting to fit introverts’ needs. Extraverts crave social
interaction, and introverts secretly do as well, so it is welcome that there
are social networking sites that allow us to do just that: interact
anonymously.
Works Cited
Alarcón-del-Amo,
María-del-Carmen, Carlota Lorenzo-Romero, and Miguel-Ángel Gómez-Borja.
"Classifying And Profiling Social Networking Site Users: A Latent
Segmentation Approach." Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking
14.9 (2011): 547-553. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.
Amichai-Hamburger,
Yair, Galit Wainapel, and Shaul Fox. "On The Internet No One Knows I'm An
Introvert": Extroversion, Neuroticism, And Internet Interaction."
Cyberpsychology & Behavior 5.2 (2002): 125-128. Academic Search Premier.
Web. 25 Apr. 2014.
Image Sources:
http://runt-of-the-web.com/funniest-tumblr-posts/2
http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/funny-things-youll-see-on-tumblr?sub=2075843_967782
http://www.dumpaday.com/random-pictures/funny-pictures/funny-pictures-day-91-pics-3/
http://www.buzzfeed.com/javim2/23-honest-confessions-from-introverts-bw9q
