Find out how introverts are thriving in web writing, despite the mental health challenges widely experienced during the lockdown.
By WITTY NYIDE
Only anxious introverts can understand how much I appreciated the lockdown’s ‘stay at home’ regulation many dreaded. The energy recovered from not having to think about presenting my body in outer social spaces, often awkwardly, has to be the primary reason why I’ve found web writing agreeable to being introverted.
Although an introvert’s anxieties in engaging with virtual platforms such as social media do not compare to the palpitation-inducing fear of raising your hand in class, the idea of ‘putting yourself out there’ online as a writer is not easier.
As the effects of the internet’s role in how most people shape their identities widens, so are the demands on quality content. Here are three ways introversion can favour the ability to create unique details in the brainstorming stage of web writing.
1. Credibility in well-researched details
Introverts’ quiet sensibility, which often finds expression in deeper relationships with books and thrives in research work, has the potential to fast-track their success as producers of well-researched, SEO-aligned web content.
Their natural affinity for paying attention to detail – and therefore inclined to interact with both objects and experiences beyond words – comes in handy. It allows introverted writers greater capacity to deepen authority as well as trust and credibility.
2. Listening skills to create reader-centred content
Susan Cain’s reflections in Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking includes the extent to which the world rewards the extroverted brand of outspokenness. In contrast to this, people’s tendency to speak about themselves, introverts thrive in being quiet and listening. This ability increases their likelihood to find reader-centred angles easier to formulate.
With the pandemic’s muting of physical, social gatherings, the introvert’s aversion to these doesn’t have to mean missing out on experiential interactions. Insights found in the comments section of any preferred social media forum such as Twitter are increasingly becoming richer entry points to decode audiences.
Read more:
- The Rise Of Digital Journalism In The Time Of Covid-19
- Website Writing Is The New Norm: 7 Tips To Stay Ahead
- My Web Writing Challenge – Why Good Content Matters
3. Human insights in embracing sensitivity
From a young age, the introverted sensitivity trait tends to get the “too intense”, “serious”, and “emotionally delicate” labels. This quality often breeds valuing unique details and being constantly conscious of visceral layers of issues. It comes in handy in reflective activities such as writing.
Since finding a unique and valuable angle is one of the critical yet challenging web article writing components, introversion can inspire deeper human viewpoints.
So, weave those inner insights into your writing and allow your ability in understanding and interpreting lived experiences to shine!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Witty Nyide is a lecturer in the Visual Arts Department, Nelson Mandela University. She has worked in various community-based and formal art education programs, including within art museum contexts.
Nyide holds an MA in Art History (with distinction), and her thesis was entitled Reflections on Self-realisation in Art-based Community Development: Exploring the impact of Caversham Centre and its Outreach Programs from 2008 to 2010. Alongside full-time employment, she enjoys making multimedia artworks.