“Social media was designed to SHARE what you’re doing and who you are, not BE what you’re doing and be who you are.”
― Richie Norton
By definition, social media was designed to create communities in which to share information, ideas and messages with people from around the world.
While the original intention was surely achieved in the early days, today it’s grown into more of a personal forum – a platform for thoughts and opinions that we wouldn’t often share in mixed company.
You see, social media has offered people from all over the globe something their missing in reality – courage.
As Norton says above, “to SHARE what you’re doing and who you are” often looks very different when you’re not hiding behind a screen.
Social media affords us anonymity, and anonymity breeds the courage to SHARE thoughts and feelings we would never verbalize in a face-to-face conversation with friends or even strangers.
Donna Lynn Hope asks, “How different would people act if they couldn’t show off on social media? Would they still do it?”
We’d all like to believe that what we “see” on social media is factual and sincere. But the fact of the matter is it’s nothing more than the same request over and over again – will someone please acknowledge me.
And we measure that validation with how many likes, comments and shares we get as we refresh our Facebook page over and over again until the number changes.
Amit Abraham says, “Social media does reach many people, but it seldom touches them.”
While cutting through all the noise to find something genuine on social media is possible, it’s not often the norm.
Instead, it’s given courage to a host of people who lack the understanding that to “BE what you’re doing and be who you are” is all that matters in life.
Stop hiding behind the screen of anonymity and show the world you’re so much more than just what you share.
