There are times, in my experience with social networking that I encounter what I call, human robots. Whether you use social networking for professional purposes or personal endeavors, if you don't share at least a little of who you are, then you are letting your followers/fans/friends down. Your depriving the world
of that rare opportunity to witness the original-non
duplicated magic that is all you, there is no other
exactly like you in the world.
Everyone of us is born an original specimen, no other person in this overcrowded world matches you or me to every detail of our being. We could go to a lab- (if cloning was legal)- clone one another and we would find that the end result would be similarities but not one hundred percent identical entities. Our genetics, our experiences, education;
even the interactions we have with others will all affect who we come to be, both
the positive influences and negative. Even identical twins share differences that make them unique to the other. For example, The American Journal of Human Genetics divulged that there were differences in identical twins DNA sequence (among other things). So why is it that so many, abandon all they have to offer of themselves in order to please everyone else around them, filling this sort of fictitious role in order to fit in.
When we try to fit into a certain social dogma, we are not being true to who we are; in essence-we are tweaking ourselves, our image, who we were meant to be, in order to make everyone else see us in a way that we think would be an acceptable image-making
ourselves absolutely miserable in the process. It's also especially stressful and mentally exhausting to try and be someone who you are not, just so you can fit it.
I'm not saying don't use etiquette. I'm not saying there isn't a place for professionalism. But I AM saying be very human in your attempts, allowing others to see the fascinating and unique entity that is all you.
I'm a person that up until my adult years, I've lived my life overly aware of others projection of me. The constant worry, the custom ideation that we tailor to fit in-it doesn't help us in our life journey. We all have gifts whether you see them or not, that were meant to be shared with others.
In my spiritual growth, I've concluded-that I'm so much more than I ever gave myself credit to be. In my quirky-march to the beat of my own drum self image, I've found a soul that is all loving, not perfect but equally valuable with something to say, do and experience in
this journey we call life. This is me, in all my 'Lucille Ball' type glory (laughing here) and I am quite comfortable in this skin now. I hope you're comfortable in your skin too :)
It's refreshing to experience people who aren't afraid to bring down their walls, who can still demonstrate professionalism, individuality and proper etiquette without losing sight of the human experience and all the pleasantries of the rapport that you give birth to as a result.
QUESTION:
Do you allow your personality to flourish in social media or do you strictly adhere to guarded business tactics-choosing to present yourself in a way that goes against your natural character as a result?
Enjoyed your thoughts! I have just completed my first novel (sending off query letters etc) and have created an online blog entitled: 'Humble Musings of the Literary Kind'.http://pjroyal.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that authenticity is key - and perhaps unless you are really genuine yourself, how successful can you be at creating equally genuine and authentic fictional characters?