I no longer feel the need to apologize for it.

I have no social anxiety, and I genuinely enjoy meeting new people, or talking to small groups of friends. but I need my alone time, and that isn't up for debate- it's a genuine need. Took me longer than I'd like to admit to realize that.

Whether this is the natural result of just getting older, or a sea change in general society as the less-social of us find ways to connect anyway, I am not sure. I do think it's a little of both.

Honestly, it seems to me more that, in some circles, it's just become more acceptable to talk about. Plus, over the last decade or so, there's been enough talk about it in popular media that it's become somewhat more normalized.

It's cool for me. I'm not shy. I love standing in front of a room and teaching. I'll happy go do social things. And if I do too many in a row, I get completely exhausted. First comes an overwhelming urge to sleep, followed by a strong desire to stay home with my dogs and a book and just read in silence.

15 years ago, living in University dorms, it was the same thing, but instead of having a framework to describe it, I had to make excuses to have alone time. Sunday was perfect for that... Sometimes there was a real hangover, and sometimes there wasn't, but it was always a good reason to chill out solo.

Well... Introverts are more likely to let you know they exist via a blog post than by telling you directly.

As society becomes more polarized and extreme, introvert vs extrovert is probably the most harmless identity topic to discuss.

There are vast swaths of identity people used to diversely discuss, that are now either completely off limits for discussion or only one extreme view is currently permitted. We are witnessing the death of multiculturalism, where the only "multi" allowed anymore in public is extroversion vs introversion.

Perhaps some environmental changes have caused people to think more about whether or not they're introverts. Open offices seem like a strong candidate to me (but there might well be others).

well, in the last couple years people actually realize that not everyone is an extrovert. So introverts are more vocal because they now exist/ get recongized