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Original poster

Are there any extroverts on MN? Or at least any ambiverts?

39 replies

CatfoodOzymandias · 07/06/2023 22:24

Just that really. Sometimes I do wonder. Because everyone claims to be an introvert. To be fair, that's true of most social media.

OP posts:
RunningFromInsanity · 07/06/2023 22:28

I’m an extrovert. Can talk the hind leg off a donkey.

Borris · 07/06/2023 22:31

I thought I was an introvert but did a test and I am an extrovert. I misunderstood extrovert as loud and life and soul of the party which isn't me. But I do need some human contact every day to feel alive.

DerekFaker · 07/06/2023 22:33

I'm an ambivert. Love a good party but need lots of alone time too. Take a while to "warm up" to new people, but can be the life and soul if I'm in the mood.

WingBingo · 07/06/2023 22:34

I am. It’s completely natural for me.

Annoying for some!

Original poster
CatfoodOzymandias · 07/06/2023 22:34

Same @Borris unfortunately I don't always get it. I do think in the post-pandemic world, people have retreated into themselves and prefer just interacting on social media.

OP posts:
JandalsAlways · 07/06/2023 22:37

I'm an extrovert. Love being around people, most of my friends are also extroverts

AnneLovesGilbert · 07/06/2023 22:39

How do you define extrovert? I love people, find most of them fascinating and have some sort of story to tell. I like talking and listening and make friends quite easily. I also like silence and appreciate time on my own which is rare.

Original poster
CatfoodOzymandias · 07/06/2023 22:40

Anyway I thought about this because DH, who is an extreme introvert, was tellling me ( not in a mean way) how poorly adapted I am to the post pandemic world because I love meeting people in person and hate Zoom. I am fine with Zoom for work, but increasingly some friends want to meet by Zoom or just not meet at all, but simply send texts back and forth.

And then I see all these threads on MN where people seem to really enjoy never meeting anyone, ever. I don't like loud parties, but I quite like meeting new people and going out. But I think I am out of step with the new world.

OP posts:
PimpMyFridge · 07/06/2023 22:43

I feel energised by the company of others so am extrovert. If I lack human company I become really flat. I love my own company though, adore getting away from people, but must always return to them regularly to be happy and feel alive.

Feeling you need to recharge/recoup after the company of others is introverted.
Both types can and do enjoy the company of others.

MaudGonneOutForChips · 07/06/2023 22:44

My friendships are incredibly important to me, I’m socially confident, and I love social life, concerts, having people over for dinner, going on holiday with friends etc. I do need considerable time alone to recharge though, and I go off and do silent retreats a couple of times a year.

PimpMyFridge · 07/06/2023 22:45

Me too op.
Fortunately I know enough people who feel the same way that I have it covered. If you're the only one that would be a nightmare!

SaveMeFromForearms · 07/06/2023 22:49

I'm a shy extrovert I think. Absolutely come to life with friends I'm really comfortable with, but tend to feel on the edge and out of my comfort zone in other groups.

Original poster
CatfoodOzymandias · 07/06/2023 22:51

AnneLovesGilbert · 07/06/2023 22:39

How do you define extrovert? I love people, find most of them fascinating and have some sort of story to tell. I like talking and listening and make friends quite easily. I also like silence and appreciate time on my own which is rare.

This is exactly how I am. I think most people are quite interesting once you get past the small talk, especially in London, which is where I am. I am in my late 40s though and I think most people I know don't feel the same way. At least all my friends are constantly saying how they hate leaving the house.

OP posts:
Hardbackwriter · 07/06/2023 22:51

I'm an ambivert, but then I think that so are the large majority of people. I think true introversion or extroversion is rare but because people see saying 'I'm an introvert' as a less braggy way of saying 'I'm ever so clever and deep' it's a very common thing to claim to be...

BertieBotts · 07/06/2023 22:51

I'm an extrovert. I get a bit irrationally annoyed by the label ambivert because in reality we all have traits from both sides.

I'm not a thrill seeker/sensory seeker - I prefer quiet to noise but I love a gathering with lots of people and I love meeting up with people.

I haven't had anybody suggest zoom at all ever since the pandemic - how odd!

Original poster
CatfoodOzymandias · 07/06/2023 22:58

I am also baffled by the posters who say their husbands are their best friends and they don't need anybody else. in their lives. DH is my friend, but I would definitely not want him as my only friend!

OP posts:
MaudGonneOutForChips · 07/06/2023 22:59

Hardbackwriter · 07/06/2023 22:51

I'm an ambivert, but then I think that so are the large majority of people. I think true introversion or extroversion is rare but because people see saying 'I'm an introvert' as a less braggy way of saying 'I'm ever so clever and deep' it's a very common thing to claim to be...

I think that when people claim to be an introvert on here it can mean a range of things from ‘I’m socially awkward’, to ‘I struggle with friendships’ to ‘I’m shy’ to ‘I just don’t like leaving the house unless it’s work and I have to’.

lljkk · 07/06/2023 23:04

Think I'm an ambivert. I flipflop on MyersBrigg between Introvert & extrovert. I can spend hours on my own every day pretty happily but don't mind crowds at all, I like people watching & eavesdropping & banter with randoms. I find everyone interesting but may not have energy to interact. Can be compulsively chatty 1-to-1.

Some MNers are what my parents, dismayed, would have dismissed as anti-social. I don't understand MNers saying they are introverts but then how they want a few close friends with whom they have deep 1-to-1 conversations. That sounds like hell to me (!!) And way too extroverted for me. I would hate the intensity of it. Give me a crowd to eavesdrop on instead, every time.

NeverThatSerious · 07/06/2023 23:06

I am, for sure, an extrovert. No one who has ever met me before would describe me as anything else!

Pollypetide · 07/06/2023 23:11

Being able to talk a lot doesn't mean you're an extrovert. I can do that. I can talk to anyone,and feel happy to do so. But I'm an introvert. Being with people drains me and I need solitude to recharge. My husband, sister, father are all extroverts. They get energised by being with people.
I'd say I'm an outgoing introvert but most of my friends are definitely extroverts. It can be exhausting! But I wouldn't be without them.

DerekFaker · 07/06/2023 23:13

MaudGonneOutForChips · 07/06/2023 22:59

I think that when people claim to be an introvert on here it can mean a range of things from ‘I’m socially awkward’, to ‘I struggle with friendships’ to ‘I’m shy’ to ‘I just don’t like leaving the house unless it’s work and I have to’.

Show quote history

Yes there is definitely some misunderstanding about what introversion actually is.

DramaAlpaca · 07/06/2023 23:15

I describe myself as a sociable introvert. I am comfortable on my own and usually prefer it, but I also love people. My DC say my superpower is being able to get a stranger's life story out of them in about ten minutes of chatting to them, and I usually instigate the chat. I can enjoy social events, but only if I am in the mood and under my terms in that I can escape when I want to, back to my quiet house and my own company so I can recharge my batteries.

Hardbackwriter · 07/06/2023 23:17

I'm an extrovert. I get a bit irrationally annoyed by the label ambivert because in reality we all have traits from both sides.

I'd agree if that was widely acknowledged - if we all agreed that most people are a bit of both with more intro/extrovert traits then I think 'introvert' or 'extrovert' would be reasonable shorthand. But a lot of popular discourse does seem to see it as a binary or even as a sort of battle, with a particularly weird common portrayal of extroverts as sort of feeding off/exploiting introverts. A lot of it does seem to rest on the idea that you either recharge alone or in company - like it's AC/DC or something and you're born with one kind of plug socket or the other - when it's clearly more complicated than that.

AndYou · 08/06/2023 00:52

Anyone that puts all their love and attention on to one human only, what happens if they die or leave, It is actually a risky strategy,

GarlicGrace · 08/06/2023 01:19

I'd never heard of ambivert before but, yep, I'm one of 'em!

Circumstances (illness, poverty, living in Nowheresville) have forced a deeply introverted lifestyle upon me. I have adapted by spending half my life on the interwebs, keeping the radio on, and being that woman who always has a little chat with people in the shops 😳