Socially Connected: Reality Versus Our Online Presence

Socially Connected: Reality Versus Our Online Presence

What does it mean to be in total peace with your online presence on social media? We tend to see others and want to compare whether it’s with how many followers they have or whether we can get verified or not. Among all the glossy photos and the ever-perfect filters, the need to be perfect on social media can be daunting, but you can make peace with this. The marriage of our actual lives with our online lives is possible, but we must remember what’s important at the end of the day which is our real lives.

Going online is like an escape from reality or from what truly matters in our lives like trying to forget that people are still getting Covid even though they’re being careful, the world events that are going on, or even just what’s going on in our own lives. Scroll away all you want while looking at social media, but it’s not going to resolve these problems. You need to take a closer look at what’s really going on in your life like maybe your workload has increased even though you’re working part-time or perhaps you’re not able to go to the gym as much as you’d like. Whatever it is, face it without fear and do so right away. Stop going online to escape your problems and instead deal with it.

Ever wonder why we keep caring about having so many followers or likes? Maybe because it’s the need to feel accepted, but with work, one can hardly keep posting like that’s the only thing he or she wants to do and forget about work or whatever else it is that they might be busy with. As much as our hearts fill with joy when we get a certain number of likes, why should we base our worth on this? You might be employee of the month at your job and online it might not show how wonderful you are. Our online presence is not a direct reflection of our actual work. It’s hard to match up with your work reality to your online reality. There’re so many people who’re hardworking and all, but honestly, the online world doesn’t work that way. Social media has its own set of rules and even requires a bit of luck.

Now you might think you have a ton of followers, but that’s not enough to get verified. People think that you must get verified to be great online. It’s tough to get verified, and not every person can be, no matter how stellar their following is. Not everyone who is famous in real life is famous online, and vice versa. Some famous people don’t even use social media at all! As harsh as this reality is, it’s the truth. You might be an entrepreneur or what not, but that’s not enough to get the coveted checkmark. Being verified is not everything and shouldn’t define you or your online presence.

Shefali is the author of Own It! Love What You Already Have of which all book proceeds go toward good causes. She is an executive at her family’s business, and board director for two other companies. She’s an alumna of Columbia Business School in New York City and Drexel University. She lives in Dubai with her husband and continues to travel for work. To learn more, visit shefalikarani.com