How to stay true to yourself while using Social Media

Five different posts from different era’s of my Instagram feed.

Authentic Online Presence

“A picture is worth a thousand words” (Fred R. Barnard).

A picture is worth a thousand words, but the truth in a picture is always revealed and a false picture does not make the same statement as an authentic one.

Use your camera wisely, use it to make a statement. Use your posts wisely, use them to express yourself. The online world is permanent, your presence there is everlasting. When you’re posting on social media, are you posting for others or for yourself? The answer should be for yourself.

Most social media influencers tend to create unrealistic standards that we mindlessly follow. I don’t want to be a sheep, I want to be a shepherd. We should march to the beats of our own drums. The internet is a portal allowing us to unleash our inner creativity. Start by following a theme with your media posts and create a cool-toned atmosphere on your platform or do the opposite and assure every post’s uniqueness. This will create a chaotic scattered effect. Think of how you feel and present that on your Instagram, every post should come from your artistic interpretation of who YOU are.

I began using this phenomenon a year ago and it’s a beautiful thing to see my development throughout the months. Every post reveals a certain amount of personal growth. My Instagram is a painting of my progression in chronological order.

During the winter of 2020, I felt chaotic and creative and this brightness was reflected through my photography. In the summer of 2021, I took time to center myself around friends, nature and literature. Those interests were depicted in my feed on the left.

Social media is used as a place to store experiences and memories as well as a platform to express your uniqueness. Differ from the crowd, post your art, your drawings, your paintings, your stories, your poems, your music. Let your feed showcase your passions.

This is a video I was afraid to post but one that I love because it showcases my passions.

Most importantly post what makes you happy, center your Instagram around your uniqueness, show off your quirky style or your crazy hair. Exhibit your surroundings, the people in your life, the places where you’ve been. The company of the people around you speaks mountains about who you are as a person.

Below are two images that compare two influencers, Addison Rae and Ariana Grande. They use their social media to promote themselves and their brand. Their socials are tied to their income. The person in the middle is someone who uses their profile to display pictures of their friends and their experiences. You can tell which accounts are real, we’ll play two lies and one truth. The answer is obvious.

Ariana, Sophie’s and Addison’s Instagram feeds.

When one person begins posting authentic pictures, others will follow suit, it happened with my friends and me. You can be that person, all you need is the courage to put yourself out there. Be confident, show yourself off, make yourself a big deal, you deserve it. It’s time to reveal yourself to the online world and there is no time like the present.