Social media has removed the dirt and grime of every day life. Where's the authenticity that we all crave?
Social media is a fickle beast. It's been well documented that social media is the ultimate "insta-filter" of our lives. Most people tend to put only the glamorous out on social media, leaving those in shared circles to wonder "what am I doing wrong?"
Social media doesn't gloss over the dirt and the grime, it flat out erases it.
Linked In, for awhile, avoided this trap. But I've slowly seen authenticity fade away from this platform as well. A few examples:
A gentleman posted about a conference he was speaking at. He said "I'm so humbled by how many lives I'm impacting." He then doubled-down on how 'humble' he was by including screen shots of people emailing/texting him to tell him how great he is. I don't think "humble" means what he thinks it means.
Another individual talked about how he hates taking vacations because it reduces his productivity. In fact, the best part of his vacation is turning off his email out-of-office notification. He loves his job and his customers that much.
Read through the comments of any article talking about "work-life balance" and you'll see dozens of alpha-wannabe's commenting how work-life balance is for "losers" and if you're not working 80-100 hour work weeks you deserve to be poor.
Here's the thing: I don't believe a single word that these folks post. I lose any ounce of respect I had for them and even worse? I view the product/service that they represent through jaded lenses now.
You see, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others...I believe people are now posting a facade of their Linked In lives. They are posting a false narrative of what they want you to believe. And I'm not entirely sure why. Is it they feel pressured to do so to keep up with the other Linked In "Jones'?" Do they believe that this is the only way to compete? The only way to become 'valued?' Isn't that sad? Sad that they don't believe their authentic-selves have value? Instead, people choose to post these extreme (and mostly false) versions of themselves to feel like they have value.
Work is hard. There are shitty days. I've been in the startup space for over six years now and I can tell you there are days that I absolutely question what I'm doing; it's grimy, it's brutal and there are times I come home defeated. There are days where nothing goes right. Failure after failure happens despite my best efforts but I have to wake up the next day and try again. Do you see that admission anywhere else on Linked In? Doubtful.
But it's real.
Where has authenticity gone?
If you look at brands, products and services that are catching on...they share a common thread: authenticity. Realness. We crave realness. Yet we're terrified of being real. Especially on social media.
How can we post inauthentic stories or comments on Linked In and expect a future client, employee, employer or partner to believe us when we say we're being "authentic" or "real" with them? Online or offline, we have to be true to ourselves. If we want to be considered a trusted resource, we have to remove the fake bullshit that is pervasive on social media.
If I lose a customer because I didn't post that I couldn't wait to get back from vacation to service my customer? That's not a customer I want. They can kick rocks. How's that for real?
Let me suggest a simple solution: social media is a mirror. If you don't like what you see, you don't paint over the mirror to make it reflect what you want it to reflect. You change what's being reflected. You change you.
Can we bring back authenticity?
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