Although there is no conclusive evidence that there is correlation between introversion and intelligence, there is a growing belief that shy and reserved people tend to have higher intellectual potential. It is enough to just go to the most popular international websites visited by young people, and we can see that being an introvert is no longer embarrassing or “uncool”. While only a few years ago in every movie a good-looking athlete or a strikingly beautiful cheerleader was the star of the school, the movies now follow the new trends: the most popular characters are highly intelligent, but they have difficulties with forming social relationships like Sheldon Cooper or Sherlock Holmes.

Trends are shaped by young people, and at the same time they are affected by them: being introverted is now more like a “cool” thing, a feature many people admit even if it is not particularly true to them, and those who are actually introverted, do not necessarily feel it necessary to change this about themselves, as social pressure is decreasing. In addition, thanks to technological advances, they do not necessarily need to make changes, for example in relation to small talk.

Not long ago, those who had a phobia of picking up the phone to book an appointment or run errands had little chance to succeed in their professional or private lives.
Technological development, however, enabled us to handle our affairs without face and voice, without the experience of personal contact. We can argue whether this is good or not, but it is certain that this opportunity opened the door to the silent intellectuals who became opinion leaders, influencers, or influential businessmen because they felt at home in the faceless world of the internet. For the generation who is dating through online dating sites, builds their carrier via LinkedIn, stays in touch with friends on Facebook, and makes their YouTube channel a source of livelihood, it comes naturally that they have a greater chance of success as an introvert, since extroverted people are less popular in the virtual space that is currently shaping the world.

These changes made it possible for the introverts to “come out”. According to introvertretreat.com, while earlier estimates showed that only about 25% of the total population fall into this category, they now believe that the distribution of introverts and extroverts is 50-50%.

While entertainment webpages are trying hard to be part of this trend by playing the introverted card as often as they can and publishing articles read by millions every day about what features are telling of introverted people—meaning: fill out this test and get a feedback of how well you fit in this trend—, business newspapers are drawing attention to a new aspect of these recent changes.

Namely that telephobic introverts, as part of the generation who manages their life online, became a significant buying force. While earlier people have been forced to pick up the phone when they needed a service, today service providers must compete with those who give potential customers (who rather hide behind their phones) access to online administration or scheduling, especially because more often these are successful customers with serious capital.

Of course, there is much debate on different forums whether the effect of the digital revolution on the introverted-extroverted question was a blessing or a curse. However, it is certain that those who do keep up with recent changes, and do not offer the convenience of online administration for their customers will lag behind the more responsive actors in the market. This may be especially true for beauty, health and wellness service providers, because their potential customers are primarily get information about their services from the Internet, and they are the most likely to postpone picking up the phone to reserve an appointment. Providing complete online information and opportunity to book a service via the Internet can be a serious competitive advantage for a small beauty company; major providers, however, must be available online if they want to preserve their prestige.