Introverts vs. Extroverts: Who Benefits More from Social Media?

When you think of social media, who do you think gets more out of it: introverts or extroverts?  You hear the word “social”, and it makes you think of gregarious individuals that like to get out of the house and meet new people.  But, you also get a picture in your mind of someone sitting at the computer by themselves.

According to Facebook, there are currently more than 800 million users on the site.  Given that information, it’s obvious that both introverts and extroverts enjoy engaging in social media.  But, are there differences in how they use it?  Before we answer that question, let’s make sure that we understand what it means to be extroverted or introverted.

One of the biggest misconceptions about introverts and extroverts is that most people believe extroverts are loud and like meeting new people, while introverts are quiet and want to shut out the world to be by themselves.  This is certainly true in some cases, but that is not the definition of what it means to be one or the other.

It all has to do with mental energy.  An extrovert is someone that is energized by groups and meeting new people.  An introvert is energized by solitude and having time to be alone with their thoughts.  Notice, it has nothing to do with what a person likes to do.  Plenty of introverts like going out with friends and meeting new people, but it is an activity that depletes mental energy.  Similarly, there are plenty of extroverts that enjoy time to themselves, but they will seek out activities with others to energize themselves.

Given that information, here are ways that introverts and extroverts differ in their approaches to social media:

Introverts

One of the biggest benefits for introverts is the fact that they can interact with others, but enjoy being by themselves at the same time.  This is a perfect situation for someone that likes to meet new people, but finds the process to be mentally draining.  Also, introverts tend to keep their thoughts to themselves in public situations, but social media allows those thoughts to be set free through twitter or blog posts.  Because they do spend so much time alone with their thoughts, introverts often have interesting insights on subjects because they’ve taken the time to thoroughly mull it over in their mind.

Extroverts

One of the biggest benefits for extroverts is that they simply have access to so many people and conversations.  They approach social media differently than introverts in that they use platforms like Facebook and Twitter to find or suggest ways to get together in person with other people.  For instance, an extrovert with nothing to do on a Friday night may look for discussions about a band playing that night, or contact several people in an attempt to organize dinner plans.  All in all, extroverts may spend less time on social media sites, but they certainly benefit from them just as much as extroverts.

The great thing about social media is that it allows different personality types to use sites like Facebook and Twitter in different ways.  Introverts can spend time alone, but still nurture relationships.  Extroverts can easily meet new people, and stumble upon opportunities that they would not have known about otherwise.

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