There are many members of the human race who ask themselves the age-old question, “Am I an extrovert or an introvert?” Many have trouble picking which side of the spectrum, seeing how both ends can have negative connotations. For example, introverts are seen as pale, quiet, introspective beings that drink tea and read poetry while watching the rain fall down their window. Extroverts are more seen as that one really loud girl vomiting in the toilet at a frat house.
Either way, these stereotypes are far from true. The introvert surely enjoys talking to friends from time to time, and the extrovert probably has days where they want to hole up and watch Netflix alone for a while.
Now to introduce the ambivert. The ambivert was created when some people realized that they have introverted and extroverted traits. I have some bad news for you, ambiverts. You’re not special. These unique traits you think you have are actually just called “things literally every human experiences.”
To make this clearer, I will now critique this Buzzfeed article titled, “21 Signs You Might Actually Be An Ambivert.”
1. When you're out in the world, you're probably not going to be starting conversations with strangers.
Yeah, most people don’t do this.
2. Generally, you're always happy to meet new people, but you'll probably be uncomfortable if you have to do it without any of your existing friends with you.
Yup, figuring out someone’s personality is hard when you don’t know anything about them. Pretty common.
3. When a topic of interest comes up in conversation, you're more than happy to talk in great detail about it.
You like to talk about things you’re interested in! Great! Everyone does!
4. But as soon as that's done, you'll happily sit listening to the conversation without saying another word.
You’re letting other people talk in this conversation! So nice of you!
5. Spending too much time with other people can be exhausting.
You can’t talk to people at all times. Take a breather there, champ. Recharge your social batteries. You know, like people normally do.
6. Your calm, controlled professional self likely a very different person to the one your friends see.
If you constantly talk like how you do in a job interview, your friends would lock you up in a mental institution.
7. Asserting yourself is tricky in many situations.
This one is a little vague, but again, something literally every human feels at least once in his or her life.
8. You can often go out and have hours of fun being the life of the party, but suddenly find that your energy has dropped, and all you really want to do is go home.
Now, this one annoys me because the author is just describing feeling tired. That’s not some special trait only certain cool humans have. Sleep is a basic human need.
9. When you see things about being an introvert, you start to relate ... but then discover that you relate to the extrovert ones as well.
Ah, so close. They almost realized they’re just like everyone else.
10. In fact, your friends disagreeing about whether you're an introvert or an extrovert is probably a very good sign you're an ambivert.
Never mind. Apparently this is the only way they can get attention from their friends.
11. Small talk is something that annoys you, because while you can do it, there are instances when it feels a bit insincere.
Well, duh, when you preface basically every conversation with, “Hey, how are you, etc.,” it’s going to feel stale after a while.
12. Some weekends, you just need to spend some time hanging out on your own.
Alone time is healthy. Come on.
13. Too much time spent alone can leave you a bit downcast, however, and you're concerned that it's not very productive.
Yes, locking yourself in your room and not doing anything for a long period of time can make you antsy. Who knew?
14. And some of the best weekends of your life have been when you didn’t go home for three days.
Vacations are fun! Only ambiverts can relate to this, apparently!
15. Thinking before you speak isn't a problem for you... most of the time.
Great job on thinking. Really… great job.
16. You have a tendency to balance out whoever you're with - if you're with someone loud, you'll be quieter. If they're quiet, you'll compensate for that.
Two people yelling over each other is not fun. Two people not talking is also not fun. This is not news.
17. You're known to be quite intuitive and good at picking up signals that other people can miss.
Yeah, I have no clue what they’re referencing. I guess you can say I missed the signal.
18. Often, you just find yourself observing what's happening around you.
Again, this is just a thing that everyone does. Taking in the scenery. Observing your surroundings. It's normal.
19. And at other times, you’ll be getting involved in the moment.
If you’re constantly just sitting there and not doing anything, you’re probably dead.
20. So in the right context, you love attention, but more often than not, you don't want to be the person everyone is looking at.
A.K.A. normal human feelings.
21. So if you can't figure out whether you're an introvert or an extrovert, maybe it's because you're actually an ambivert.
Or maybe you’re just a regular person, and the thought of that unnerves you to your very core, to the point where you have to make up a term to show people you are your own person. Sorry to burst your bubble.
