There are many segments of social media that build on the concept of transparency, the idea of being understood, known, and recognizable. A single part of this entire foundation is accuracy, and the way we report and convey who we are and what we do to others online.
Accuracy becomes vital in social media for two reasons:
- The first is because social media deals with online communication as opposed to face-to-face communication, so it’s easy to attempt to hide your true identity and agendas, but it’s not a generally accepted practice to deceive in social media. You might say what keeps people from doing that?
- Well, that brings me to the second reason, which is that social media is community governed. That means that once the community has realized you have double-talked, or misled people with your interactions, the community will immediately revolt and turn against your advances, and word WILL spread.
How Will I Be Found Out?
It may seem like with so many people online that it would be a small chance that anyone would discover you. That is not the case. Users tend to attach themselves to communities with similar interests, and because of that people tend to run the same circles. The whole idea is to simply be yourself; the honest, true, accurate personality that is the true you. If you are one way with your friends, one way with your co-workers, one way with another group and so on, are you really being true to yourself or are you attempting to be the person you think others want you to be?
That type of thinking, and that type of behavior can lead to people becoming suspicious you, question you, or talk about you negatively because two different people saw two different sides of you. There’s nothing wrong with being yourself with everyone; it lends itself to attracting people knowing that they know what to expect and that you have nothing to hide.
Is It That Serious?
The negativity for your lack of accuracy will not necessarily bring you a horrible back-lash, it depends on your status within your community. If you represent a company or personal business, the self you share must be dead on when you interact with the community. Not doing so can severely cause your business to suffer if the community does not trust you.
So when you take that step out into the online world, make sure the you that you present accurately reflects who you really are. You’ll reap the benefits much more than trying to be something you’re not.
