If you’ve started posting online. And you follow the advice from creators with a large following. The “standard” advice is to be authentic.
But what does that even mean?
If you’re posting online, whether that be on Facebook, only those who you choose to see your posts can.
Or like me, if you’re trying to build a, well many lifestyle businesses. Trying to get you and the things you create in front of people.
Either way, can you be authentic when posting? Or is this impossible because of the nature of the beast in the online world?
Can you stay true to yourself and be authentic online?
You Only See 99.99%, The Best Bits
The problem with the internet. Social Media. You only see a very small snapshot of people’s lives.
The bits they want you to see.
Let’s say someone posts on their Instagram Stories. A couple of hours worth of content each day.
That’s a hell of a lot.
And it’s still only about 10% of their day.
More than likely the highlights.
There’s no way to see everything about someone’s life.
Unless the Truman Show becomes a real thing, I’m annoyed by the TV show Big Brother. The people who go on there know they are being filmed 24/7.
They are trying to become famous.
So do they filter themselves all day?
I’m saying yes.
Manufactured Success
So many people post pictures of themselves with expensive cars, or on a private jet.
How many people own them?
And as much as I like Gary Vee. The advice he gives people starting now isn’t always the best.
Because he has a team that films him for most of his day. He’s in the top 0.01% of creators. So has a life and calendar that puts in him scenarios that the rest of us can only dream about.
Also, again, his editing and posting team will only post the highlights. Or something that they know will get engagement.
So what’s the answer?
You Stopped Being Authentic The Day You Were Born
A while back. I listened to a podcast with the amazing Seth Godin.
If you haven’t heard of Seth Godin. He’s a thought leader in the marketing world. A very smart bloke.
The podcast host asked him a question. “How do you stay authentic online”?
Seth’s answer shocked me.
In his answer, he stated that we stopped being authentic from a very early age. An example he gave is the clothes we wear. Are we being authentic? Or are we giving others an impression, a view of how we want them to perceive us?
So, because of the way we operate in society, are we never authentic anyway?
We Already Filter Our Parts of Ourselves.
I’m lucky where I live.
We’ve some woods, a river and farmland 2 minutes walk from our house.
I love going walking around there during the day.
What I do is walk through a section of the woods. Come out near a Petrol station. I pop in, grab myself a coffee, and sometimes a treat too.
One of the men who works behind the counter is always rude to me. Sometimes doesn’t even acknowledge I’m standing there.
I’ve seen him be polite to other people though, not sure what it is about me.
If I was being authentic. Would I say to him, why are you so rude, a hello, thank you, would be nice.
But no. I thank him and walk out grumbling to myself about how rude he is.
I should stop going in there altogether.
But I like my coffee too much.
Instead, I put a filter on myself. Like my coffee.
Be Controversial
Again, this is where it gets difficult.
A lot of people online will say things. Even if they don’t mean them. To get the engagement, to “game the algo”.
They do it on purpose because they believe it will help them grow a following fast. Or it’s what they want the rest of us to believe to play some form of status game. And won’t back down.
Even some of the creators I respect. Though they aren’t being controversial. Will post their opinion in the hopes of filtering out people who don’t want to follow them and those that do.
I took a course a while back. One of the tasks the instructor ran through is for you to create a list of the things you believe.
His argument follows this thought process.
Find those that agree with you, and push away those that don’t.
I guess, something that Seth Godin talks about is to find your tribe online.
The problem I have with this is that we may not have explored the counter to our view.
It was Charlie Munger that said. “If you can’t argue against your position, then you don’t understand that topic well enough”.
That can be a problem.
Shouting something that you believe “that you know to be true” online can lead to getting trolled. Worse still. Cancelled.
Again, if you filter yourself, is that being authentic?
Don’t Worry About Being Authentic, Just Don’t Lie
So, if we only show the highlights?
If we should post things to filter out people who aren’t part of our tribe.
And that we’ve not been authentic since the day we were born.
Should we even worry about being or appearing authentic?
That’s a great question.
I was on a podcast myself a while back. I got asked the same “How do you stay authentic when posting online”. I’m nowhere near as smart as Seth Godin.
My answer was that if something I post. That it’s something I’d say if I were chatting to the podcast host “down the pub”. Then I’m being authentic
I guess what I’m saying is as long as you’re comfortable with it then that’s OK.
Can You Look At Yourself In The Mirror
It’s a great phrase “Can you look at yourself in the mirror”.
I’m a big sports fan. I love my football (or soccer as people in the U.S. incorrectly call it).
The problem with a lot of the modern-day footballers is the diving, play-acting, cheating. And I say this regularly “I don’t know how they can look at themselves in the mirror”.
So whenever you’re posting online. If you can “look at yourself in the mirror”. You aren’t ashamed of what you are posting. Then that is a great place to start.
Stand By Your Views
Again, going back to the advice list out your views, and what you believe.
As long as you can stand by them, be flexible and take on board what people are saying if they disagree with you. Again, it’s all good, it’s authentic.
Yes, there will be trolls and people being downright offensive.
The best course of action is to ignore those people anyway.
But criticism and arguing against your views. Well, that is a dying art anyway in today’s “TRIGGER WARNING” society.
So I guess what I’m saying. As long as you aren’t lying, to people online, and yourself. Then worrying about being authentic is a waste of time.
As long as you can look back at yourself in the mirror each morning.
Then, you’re golden.
Blatant Self Promotion
I’ll be honest here.
As an Englishman, being British, European even.
My cousins on the other side of the Atlantic, you Americans and Canadians. Are far better at self-promotion.
From my perspective. I wouldn’t be anywhere near as active online as I am if I wasn’t trying to promote my products and services.
But it’s difficult.
The culture I’m used to. The one that I was brought up in, that I still live in. It isn’t the best grounding to help you self-promote.
And that can be difficult when you then post online.
You become too worried about what your friends, family, and those close to you will think if they see something.
Here’s the response use Brits get from our fellow countrymen,
“Ohhhh, look at you, fancy pants, starting your own business, think you’re better than us, eh?”
While people in the U.S. are more open to promoting themselves. And supporting others, even if they don’t know that person.
It’s because that is when we promote something, we aren’t being authentic.
But as I’ve touched on. As long as you aren’t lying and can hold your head up high, back up what you are saying.
Then that is being “authentic”.
Oh, I’ve got a blog post about the barriers we face when starting to post online. You may find it useful.
Conclusion: Be Authentic Online
That common advice about posting online is to be “authentic”.
But is that an oxymoron?
That putting yourself out to the world. By being part of that world anyway, you’re never truly authentic. Because it’s impossible.
What I’ve found is I worry less about being authentic. I focus more on being honest.
As long as I’m not lying, then I can be happy posting online.
And as long as I can stand by what I’m saying, be able to “look at myself in the mirror every morning”.
Then you are being “authentic”, true to your worldview.
Don’t worry about appearing authentic.
The game is hard enough as it is.
