Why do Introverts Dominate the Internet?
Why introverts dominate Online spaces (Pt. 4)
I published my last article with a resigned sense of glee.
After dispelling the myths of the introversion-extroversion binary and suggesting a better paradigm of living without the labels, I felt triumphant, transformed by my new knowledge, tranquil with my new state of being.
But as I began sharing my article on social media, a feeling of unease began to set in. After some reflection, I realised I had left a critical aspect untouched. I had forgotten what inspired me to go down the personality science rabbit hole—social media itself.
Prologue
The story began with charts I shared on the r/dataisbeautiful subreddit (a community where people share visualised data). The plots showed how often extroverted and introverted tags were used across social media. Can you see a pattern?
What stuck out to people more than my amateur design skills was how consistently larger introvert tags and communities were compared to extroverts.
This is despite extraversion being an evenly distributed personality trait; thus, there are roughly an equal number of introverts and extroverts in society (this binary is a slight oversimplification).
Numerous people postulated theories for why this gap existed; I can aggregate most into three responses:
Introverts feel more comfortable expressing themselves online and thus post more
Extroverts spend more time socialising in person and thus post less
Introversion is currently a trend in the online zeitgeist
I asked friends and acquaintances, and most answers also followed the above responses. Reflexively, I wanted to agree with these opinions, but I realised a fundamental flaw: the graphs don’t explain why.
The Confrontation
Without any background, all you can infer from the graphics is that people online use or relate to the introvert tag more. The causation would have to be discovered through a more nuanced analysis.
Who posts online more, introverts or extroverts? How much do introverts and extroverts post about their personality? What do these introvert and extrovert posts entail? Etc.
Luckily, a team of researchers have already answered our first question.
The Plot Twist
In 2020, a team of psychologists conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis to summarise the research on the relationship between extroversion and social media use. Drawing from 182 studies, the analysis found an overwhelming consensus: the more extroverted one is, the more likely they are to use and post on social media.
Extroverts tend to share more content, such as photos of faces, group selfies, and updates about their lives, like social events, achievements, diet, and exercise routines. They also tend to engage more publicly by liking, commenting and reposting.
The research found that extroverts utilise social media in ways that mirror their offline tendencies of seeking attention and amplifying their social presence. This conclusively debunks the first two theories from Reddit.
The Finale
So, if extroverted people are more likely to post online, why do introverted content and community engagement seem so much larger?
One likely explanation is that extroverts do not strongly identify with the extrovert label. Whether they post about partying, hiking, or more introvert-coded activities like reading or watching anime, they tend to post about the specific activity more than its associated personality.
Another factor that boosts introversion online is our pedestrian extroversion offline. Sociability and connectedness are so expected in everyday life that introverted content stands out more clearly in contrast.
This contrast makes introvert content more novel and attention-grabbing, increasing its appeal and encouraging algorithms to promote it to attract more people’s attention and keep them on the platform longer.
Social media’s bias towards negativity is likely another contributing factor. Introvert posts often deal with struggles like a lack of alone time, social exhaustion and society's lack of understanding for introverts.
Ultimately, I think the domination of introvert content online is an epiphenomenon of these two factors: how people subconsciously seek novelty and negativity in online spaces.
For these reasons, I think the third theory from Reddit holds the most weight.
Over the past two decades, there’s been a growing awareness and acceptance of introversion online. The popularity of these spaces has created a kind of feedback loop where posts about introversion receive higher engagement, which makes them more likely to be seen by others, leading to even more visibility and community growth.
The online introvert community may have reached a critical mass.
The Sequel?
So far, I’ve tried to keep a neutral lens on why introverts seem to dominate the internet. But beneath the surface, I sense something more unsettling belies this. It feels like the online world is shaping introversion in subtle ways I haven’t quite pinned down yet. Maybe I’ll explore that another time.