The Value of Authenticity on Your Social Medias

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about social media.

It's fascinating to think about how our entire lifestyles revolve around it. We share the events we attend, the people we converse with, but most of all, we put ourselves out there. The way we project ourselves through pictures and posts on these apps is how we want to be seen and remembered by those around us. The lead singer of my favourite band, The 1975, Matty Healy, recently quoted this in an interview, which is really what began inspiring these thoughts: "For me, social media is about saying: this is what I do, but for young people, it's [saying]: this is who I am."

There isn't a day in our lives where we aren't wired into these platforms. We are consuming so many sources that influence so many aspects to us. The clothes we buy, the movies we go to see, places we'd love to travel to someday, hobbies we'd like to take up. All incredible, serotonin-inducing things that we appreciate having or looking forward to (There's also a hefty amount of capitalism in this equation, but that's a cup of tea for another day). Things that don't reflect, well, everyday life.

Why? Because everyday life sucks. Having been in my first year out of school, it's probably one of the harshest realities I've had to accustom myself to. While it's all well and good to be surrounding myself with likeminded people, things I enjoy, and chasing the things I aspire to pursue, it still sucks. It's boring, it's full of horrible lessons, and awful people, and the mundanity involved with having to keep yourself alive on a daily basis is exhausting. We all need an escape from this reality to things that excite us as a temporary distraction. Social media is just a window of opportunity for us to tell people: Hey look! It's me! I'm escaping! Life can be fantastic!

Our social media feeds are our own personal art galleries: We want to set ourselves apart from the rest. We only display the very best works and aspects of ourselves. Like any art gallery, there's no room for unintentional unfinished sketches or paintings that didn't align with the original vision of the artist.

This is when social media starts to become dangerous. I challenge anybody to find an adolescent who hasn't spent a good amount of time scrolling through their feeds, longing for other people's lives or a different lifestyle. Constantly comparing, analyzing and intaking other people. Wondering if people will like what we post. Deleting things that aren't getting as much attention as you thought it would because that means that people won't find you interesting. I'm absolutely guilty of it, and have been many times. I'm guessing you have, too. It's complete, total bullshit.

But you know what else is bullshit? Thinking that the solution to putting this to rest is deleting all of our apps. Yep, I said it. The notion of isolating yourself from social media is outdated and doing you more harm than good.

Everybody, no matter your stance on the technology debate, needs to understand that this is irreversible. We are never going back to a society where we are phone free, without technology, and not influenced by social media. Advocating this by taking a stand against it and deleting your digital presence is not the way to go. You are quite literally, isolating yourself from the new means of communication and connecting with your network of people.

It's not social media that's the issue, it's the authenticity of its users.

I know there's probably a lot of people who would argue me on this. My parents and Grandpa are definitely three individuals who would. While social media is still a big part of our lives, its not all of it. There should definitely still be a balance between the time you spend on your apps and with the real world around you. The point of this post isn't to instigate that we should embrace completely immersing ourselves into technology and abandoning the world around us.

My point is that, we should be injecting more of the real world into our online art galleries. We should not be posting for others, and we definitely shouldn't be spending so much energy comparing ourselves to everybody in our feeds. There's been a few major changes that I've made to my social media feeds that has completely changed the way I've been consuming content on my apps.

One is to follow fewer celebrities and public figures. Only follow the ones you truly enjoy keeping up with, such as your favourite singers, actors, models, etc. Follow painters, poets, photographers, world travellers, motivational speakers: people who post the world through their eyes and experiences rather than of themselves. It's inspiring to know that there's a collection of people out there who dedicate their online presence to things other than themselves. It's definitely not for everybody (and that's totally okay!), but I promise you that admiring those who do will change your attitudes towards social media usage. There's something about contemplating a poem or admiring a landscape photograph a rural photographer took that seems to balance out the social lives of my old high school peers in the best way possible. It's helped minimise the amount of comparing I do, and serves as a reminder that the world around us is still equally important as what's on our tiny screens.

Speaking of life and social media, it brings me to my second point: start posting more real shit. Our everyday, mundane lives. The shitty stuff. The stuff that is usually boring or messy or braindead. Thankfully, there's also a lot of people out there paving the way, but let's challenge ourselves to do it too. Were you on the way home from work and your car broke down so now you're waiting for a tow? Fuck it, livestream it for a few minutes! Have a laugh about the stuff that goes wrong. That's life. Whenever I travel, I always make a conscious effort to share the things that went wrong. For example: the time I went to Melbourne last December and spilt orange juice all over my boarding pass, in front of a full airport cafe. It's not a major mishap, but it's an inconvenience to laugh about! It's sharing the little fuck ups that can help remind us all of a small reality check.

My third and final point, and I know it seems like the most obvious, but start posting for yourself. If you are already posting things that represent who you are: start doing it unapologetically. If there's a photo you took that you want to post but are worried about others not engaging with it: post it. Those negative mindsets are shaping your social media feeds into depictions of yourself through the likes of people who follow you. It's tricky, because, social media as wired us to think this way. It's the first thing we consider when we go "huh, this would look great on my feed." It definitely hasn't been an easy habit to train myself out of (hey, I'm still guilty of it!), but it's improved drastically. Anything you post that you are 100 percent happy with is authentically you. People giving it a double tap is nothing but a bonus. I have a handful of posts that haven't got as many likes as others. Maybe they're too personal or too arty, but hey, so what? It's a snapshot into my life. It's how I want others to see me. If I'm living in an age where my social media presence is a vital part of sharing the good bits of my life with others, I might as well make sure its still reflecting who I am.

These changes have been something I've thanked myself for doing since introducing them. They've not only changed my outlook on social media, but the world around me as I continue to navigate life in this part social media/part real world society. I hope it changes yours too.

—Hannah Lily x