Authenticity Wins

Sometimes I’m inauthentic…

I’m always preaching authenticity, vulnerability and revealing your natural self to the world.

But sometimes, im inauthentic. Whether it’s posting an inspirational quote on Instagram when I’m feeling uninspired, or curating my feed to follow a certain pattern, or trying to develop a preset for my photos, or creating a content calendar...sometimes I cheat a little.

Today, especially if you work or study in the social media field like I do, we are given an array of mixed messages. One line of thought is that we should strategize our content carefully, to increase our number of subscribers or follower count, or to gain more clientelle and sell more of our products.

Another is that we should be vulnerable, show our “human” sides. Celebrities like Chrissy Tiegan and politicians like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez demonstrate this social media strategy. The reasoning behind that content marketing strategy is to attract consumers from “being yourself” and creating a tie with them that way.

The problem with either or both of these strategies is they are, in a way, inauthentic. 

Social media as a whole could be seen as inauthentic, but I do think it serves as a connector between individuals, communities and ideologies.

I am not anti-social media, actually I really love it. 

I’ve seen it serve as the vehicle to overthrow oppressive regimes such as that which fell down in Tunisia during the Arab Spring. I’ve seen it serve as the vehicle for social change and a platform for social messages such as #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo among others. I’ve seen entrepreneurs, healers and activists use social media as a platform to build communities and inflict positive change.

Should we use social media? My answer to that question is a big fat YES. Should we be authentic and vulnerable on social media? YEA. But should we strategize our social media usage…? That’s a question I’m unsure of.

All I know is I’m ready to break the chain, to ditch my “content strategy” and allow myself to truly be a vehicle for love and light, trusting my intuition, trusting my connection with God/source/myself, and trusting that whatever comes out of my mouth, keyboard or pencil is not only what I need to say, but what needs to be heard.

What do you think about social media content strategies? Comment your honest opinion below. Let’s start a dialogue.

​#Authenticitywins.