I attended a conference in Houston this week and I lost count on how many times I heard "I don't know what I'd say" in response to why that person wasn't blogging or on Twitter. But by the end of the conference on Tuesday, I was talking to many of these same people on Twitter.


What happened? Social media happened.
I presented on blogging for business at the Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference in Houston on Monday. During that presentation, I admitted that I was an introvert, but that blogging and social media sites like Twitter are changing that. I think the reason why is because social media makes you want to share and connect with each other. When I am on Twitter, I look for items in my feed reader that I can link to my followers. When I meet people at conferences, I want to evangelize my favorite blogging friends to them. As I make more connections, I want to tell more people about social media, because I want to see them make these connections as well.
Also, social media reduces fear. This is a natural byproduct of the space. The 'social' part of social media means that interactions and connections happen more frequently, which means we introverts go from avoiding those interactions, to embracing them. Connie Reece wrote last year that despite many people online pegging her as an extrovert, she's actually fairly introverted. I wouldn't have guessed it either.
What do the rest of you introverts say? Has social media also changed the way you interact with others?