How To Be Successful In A Social Media Role If You Are An Introvert

You are passionate about social media, and you love the real time excitement and the fizz it provides. You have the talent and knowledge, and you want to make a career in it.

But a niggling voice doubts whether you can. Because, you are an introvert.

And social media is seemingly all about extroversion and being on the outside.

Introverts vs Extroverts

Many of you reading this post may feel this way. And why not? The whole world seems to thrive around extroverts. Whether you are on social media, or in your office, you may feel that garrulous and loud people overrun the world.

You are not wrong if you feel that way: extroverts have been touted over time as being indispensable to any work force and being born leaders.

While some of this may be true, you should know that a considerable amount of the celebration of extroverts is hype, propagated and managed by personality development agencies, at the expense of those who choose to remain quiet and shy about promoting themselves.

Introverts, as you will read later on, are more than what they seem to be and more than capable of taking up social media roles. Nearly 40% of the world’s population consists of introverts. Hence it is essential that if you are an introvert, you have the confidence to be yourself, use your qualities to the utmost extent, and take up positions in social media confidently.

What Is the Purpose of Social Media?

Social media has become an indispensable tool for companies, businesses, politicians, leaders, educators, celebrities and ordinary people to share their views with the world. Social media has become an important tool for those who want to focus attention on issues.

In the world of businesses, it has become a vital part of marketing, with the result that social media marketing has evolved into a separate domain with specific investment. Social media involves the use of Internet or mobile tools to disseminate content as well as to reach out to customers/users/readers. It is a vital tool for marketers.

Why Introverts Rock The Social Media Industry

Social media is currently one of the hottest areas for job seekers. Due to the very communicative nature of social media, many people are under the misconception that working in a social media role requires you to possess the personality traits of extroverts, who are in general outgoing, social and aggressive.

At the end of the day, being successful in social media requires focus, discipline, good written communication skills and being able to convey a genuine image of yourself, that is convincing, warm and sincere.  Both extroverts and introverts like you can possess all these qualities and more.

Thus, social media becomes a level playing ground for all personalities. More importantly, you may find that unlike the common perceptions of extroverts, you as an introvert actually possess better attributes, which makes you more likely to succeed in this role.

Intuitive Introverts Make Great Connections!

Social media success emphasizes quality relationships rather than the quantity of connections you have. While the numbers of relationships you form are great, if you have not established quality connections, a lot of connection isn’t of great use.

Whether you have realized it or not, introverts like you talk less and listen more, and are gifted with naturally intuitive abilities to seize up a person, and understand their verbal and non-verbal body language.

This is because your focus is almost always on the other person. You tend to be astute observers, and you can attune yourself to the person with whom you’re speaking. This trait is also of great use on social media, where you reflect the same attitudes in your conversations with different people. Hence, you will end up building strong, meaningful engagement and relationships, which are the heart of social media marketing. This will give you the added edge!

Communication is Increasingly Non-Verbal and Via the Web!

With the pervasive use of digital technologies, communication is more and more through e-mail, chatting apps, video conferencing – in short, there is less dependence on face-to-face meetings.

This is a good trend for  introverts who are extremely comfortable with technology, as it allows you to be in a world of your own, give space during interactions, and communicate better without the hassles of direct interactions. If this sounds like you, you will find it comparatively easier to fit on social media and you will enjoy the challenges offered by it.

Where Introverts Would Score Over Extroverts in Social Media Performances

Your own quiet nature will help you in developing one to one relationships with those whom you engage with on social media. People often tend to trust you, as you are quiet, focused and serious.

Introverts also tend to be very good listeners and this is a very important skill set required for social media engagement. You may have a good understanding of human behavior.

Many prominent business leaders are introverts. These include those involved in top-notch positions in social media marketing field. They are able to fine-tune their highly reflective internal life with the advantages of social networking – an advantage which extroverts may lack.

All you need to do is to emphasize your natural strengths, polish up on areas which may need more work such as communication and interpersonal skills, and engage in social networking strategies which are centered around your own style of working.

Introverts and Social Media are Made for Each Other

You will not find any other field in marketing which is as well suited for your personality as social media. If you are already an active user of Facebook or Twitter, you know how very easy it is to express your full selves on social media. If you have not yet tried it out, do so today.

You’ll find that many introverts transform into extroverts online and back into introverts offline. This ability to switch between both sides can help you to balance the demanding aspects of social media communication as well as personal management offline.

In fact, there are many introverts who love social media for this reason and are very adept at using it. Join their group and feel the impact that your personality would make in communication on social media platforms. Think of it as a magic wand. Imagine how powerful you feel!

What will give you encouragement is that the usual barriers (which you may encounter in real life situations), such as shyness, awkwardness, stranger anxiety as well as hesitations in starting up or ending conversations are no longer existent on the social media platform. You won’t be debilitated by these and you will be able to be yourself.

In addition, your focused, driven but quiet personalities and love of solitude make you amenable to do this job perfectly. If you want to build upon your networking and interpersonal communication skills, you can go for communication programs, which can train you in aspects of face-to-face communication and social skills.

The absence of face-to-face interaction as well as exposure to body language frees introverts. You will be able to  liaise, engage, interact, entertain, and propound questions with ease and comfort as you  allow your full personas as well as your cleverness and knowledge to be expressed.  As Susan Cain says in Quiet, some of the greatest leaders and experts in the world are introverts; there is no need for introverts like yourself to give up being themselves for success.  In addition, experiences on social media can be used to help shore up your  performance in in-person marketing.

Your Social Media Success Relies on Your Introverted Nature

When it comes to getting the job of social media marketing done, all personalities are equally capable of doing well, provided they use the skills they are naturally endowed with. Social media roles require dealing with many people online, and often requires engagement with and distribution of large amount of content as well as monitoring how clients are finding the content.

As an introvert, you can be as effective, if not more so, than extroverts in handling social media responsibilities, as many of your introvert qualities (good listening, building real relationships, being interested in human behaviorist) are the exact skills required in such  a role. In fact, introverts are very likely to gel with the role and do a tremendous performance.

Please share you personal experiences in the comments below on how your personality traits affect your professional life. Extrovert, introvert, or a mix of both – I’m curious to hear your thoughts and comments on this topic.