This How Isolating It Can Be To Be An Introvert In 2016

By

Every day is a never-ending social media feed of over sharing, updating, and snapping; but where do the people who have a hard time socializing, either in person or online, fit into this new world?

Being shy has become an impediment (especially for a millennial). A disadvantage in a world that favors extroversion and the new means of employment: self-branding. How do I, an introvert to the max, possibly put myself on display like so many others do? Being an introvert in a world that favors extrovert’s means being self conscious about doing anything.

There is the constant worry that I won’t get a job because an application requires a link to my nonexistent Instagram account. The job will clearly go to the applicant with the impressive social media accounts, a coveted skill to have in a world driven by marketing.

Who would have thought that the personality you were born with, that makes you you, can hinder your everyday life? Being social and loud is today’s accepted behavior, while those opting for the opposite are considered sketchy. Let’s face it anyone without a Facebook is immediately labeled untrustworthy, they must be hiding something right?

I don’t have a twitter, haven’t had a post or update on Facebook for years, and deleted my Instagram account, and I fear that I am doomed to an inadequate, unemployed life simply because I don’t enjoy social media.

Being an introvert in a world that favors extroverts is isolating, even as someone who relishes isolation. I can feel like an outcast in my own house while watching a deluge of Snapchat stories; knowing exactly what everyone else is doing at all times, while I am too busy being an introvert. Being an introvert means feeling inadequate on a daily basis.

All I can do is promise the world that my shy temperament and lack of social media presence has nothing to do with my work ethic, my tenacious and empathetic heart, or my adequacy as a human being. This too small world does not champion my personality type, but I am proud to be an introvert.