Is introversion a trend?

Were the 2010s our 15 minutes of fame?

Incredibly, I don’t own this mug • Photo by Elena Koycheva on Unsplash

A few years ago, I was working on a book about introverts. It was based on webinars I’ve given and articles I’ve written about how introverts can develop and share their unique gifts with the world. I had rousing encouragement from potential readers, but getting a publisher to pick it up was an uphill battle. Why?

It seems that there is a belief out there that introversion is a trend.

Not the personality type itself but rather the public’s interest in introversion.

My initial reaction was: Are you serious?! We introverts finally peeked our heads outside the covers to let the world know we’re here; we have a voice—and this is the response?

Perhaps it was Susan Cain’s insightful book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, that pulled back the covers for us introverts. I’d go so far as to say it opened the door to a beautiful day when we felt safe to step outside and sing our song right alongside extroverts and ambiverts.

Following the publication of Cain’s book, introversion became all the rage—with blogs, Facebook pages, viral comics, e-zines, webinars, and workshops. Not to mention the slew of introvert-focused books since Cain’s, enlightening the world to ways introverts can succeed in business, fall in love, celebrate themselves…

In the twelve years since Quiet got loud, are we really done?

Is our way of being really a trend?

As far as I can see, we’ve only just begun.