Facebook is for extroverts (and other observations of an introvert)

Classic moment with my husband, the extrovert.

Let me tell you a little secret: I am an introvert.

Does that surprise you? It surprised me, too. I discovered this little nugget of extremely salient information one day when I was 47 weeks pregnant and Trent invited a family over for Sunday dinner and I burst into tears.

Follow the line of logic here from an extrovert's (TRENT) point of view: Liz is pregnant. She is sick of being pregnant. She needs to get her mind off of that. I will give her the GIFT of a lot of people here at the house playing games and laughing. We will enjoy their company. This will totally re-energize her. This will be great.

Now follow the line of logic from an introvert's (LIZ) point of view:  If there are all those people at the house I will have to entertain them. I will feel totally drained of any energy I have left since right now I don't have the energy to even smile. All I want to do is talk to Trent about the baby or read a book. This will be terrible.

Those are actual representations of what we were thinking on the fateful day we discovered a major difference in our personalities: Trent is the classic extrovert, gaining energy from being with others. I am the classic introvert, gaining energy from within.

Now, the above example begs that I address an issue that is a bit frustrating about being an introvert; namely, the inherent difficulty in explaining to certain extroverts that no, it isn't that you don't like people, and no, it isn't that you want to be a hermit by yourself on a deserted island with only your books and your poetry to protect you (although perhaps every introvert has felt that way, thank you for articulating it for us, Paul Simon). Actually, most introverts like people. They need people (and people who need people, Barbra Streisand once told me, are the luckiest people in the world). Rather, introverts just aren't energized by people and can be easily drained by large groups of people.

Lately I have noticed a trend that is a little alarming for the introvert in me. It seems that the blogging world is fading under the bright lights of Facebook and other such social networking sites. I entered the blogging world trepidatiously, yet now find that I totally relish in it. I love the writing outlet that it has become for me; moreover, I like the way it has enabled me to connect on a deep and personal level with so many friends and family members whose blogs I read on a daily basis. Somehow (and maybe this is paradoxical or even strange sounding) blogging totally energizes me.

Facebook, on the other hand, terrifies me. Can I just say that? There are many reasons why, but to cite a specific example: the Facebook status line just about kills me. I look at it and wonder: what can I say in one sentence that explains sufficiently what I am doing/thinking/feeling AND that I feel good about shooting out over the internet to 300+ aquaintences and whomever else may see the thread? Since I cannot ever come up with anything, mostly, I just stay silent.

Compare that feeling to the Facebook comings and goings of  two of my extrovert sisters. Their status lines on Facebook crack me up and entertain me and delight me on a daily basis. Those two girls thrive on Facebook. I have another sister who is an introvert and seems to be more like me on Facebook: she rarely posts her status, yet she comments from time to time on others' status.

What do you think? Are you an introvert, too, and find you are energized by the blogging world? Or are you an extrovert and find that Facebook gives you more access to more people more quickly, thereby energizing you? Or are you like my cousin AD who seems to excel at both? Is blogging fading and tweeting taking over? Because I don't...think...I...can...ever...tweet....

As I type this, Trent and I are sitting on our bed, typing away at our individual lap tops. When he saw I was blogging he said, "I'm glad you're keepin' the dream alive."

Yes, sir, I am.