Writing Prompt: Social Media You vs. Real Life You

Pull up any one of your social media pages and compare “that person” to yourself in real life. Then I want you to consider the following 3 questions…

Question 1: Is this what I really look like?
Question 2: Is this how I actually speak? Is that my voice?
Question 3: Is this how funny or fun I am in real life?

Here are my answers…

Question 1: Is this what I really look like?

Yes, this is what I look like in real life. But if you take a look at my older posts, photos of myself were rare. It took a lot of work for me to finally realize that I was hiding behind my photography and that I did not want the world to see ME. Now my social media feed has lots of photos of me—you can actually see my face! I love that dude. 

Question 2: Is this how I actually speak? Is that my voice?

Social Media D has a more serious and more poetic tone than Real Life D. I think this is okay, but I also I think there is room for me to bring my real voice to my social pages a bit more.

Question 3: Is this how funny or fun I am in real life?

Definitely NOT. Real Life D is WAY more fun; anyone who really knows me knows how freaking goofy I am. I am not sure why, but this side of me seems to be missing from my social. 

I’m curious why Goofball D doesn’t feel allowed (or maybe doesn’t feel safe) to play on my social media pages. Especially now that people are experimenting with reels and shorter format content that works so well with humour. 

To be honest, it feels more risky to me to attempt to make ‘em laugh than it does to go deep and be vulnerable. Naked pictures and stories about challenging times in my life somehow feel safe now, yet lighthearted goofball content feels scary AF. 

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NOW IT’S YOUR TURN. Ask yourself the same 3 questions and let me know if you learned anything. Do you feel like there’s room for the real you to show up on your social media? Which part of you feels the most underrepresented and why?