I tend to be pretty outgoing when in social situations, and I find the extrovert description pretty apt... but I do need downtime as well, when I don't feel like dealing with people. Once I get out, I'm happy, but it takes some conversations with myself to get me to go. Maybe I'm a lazy extrovert?
I don't think either one is better, just different. I do think it's better/easier not to be actually shy - it makes it hard on the shy person to interact, and that's a shame. It means others don't get to learn about you as often, and you don't get to learn about them either. That's one of the things I love about interacting with people.