The Other Me: How Much Of Your Virtual Identity Is Real?

in #socialmedia6 years ago (edited)

Life is not about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself. - Lolly Daskal

Social media is the ideal stage to actually create a fictious identity of ourselves. There are few things Photoshop couldn't fix, right?

In a virtual world we can actually become whoever we want and script the role, lifestyle and appearance that suits us.

Well I have a very clear opinion on that: I don't like the fake at all. When the camera's light turns red, I'm just Marly. Period.

From my personal point of view, there's already enough false identity out there on the internet that provides a distorted image of society.

Nobody wakes up at 6am looking like a supermodel, not even supermodels do.

Here's to the beauty of authenticity in social media!

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The other me. Can you see the difference? No? Well there is none :-)

Freckles are my favourite make-up!

You'd spot few pictures online where I am wearing make-up, and that's part of my self-concept.

There may be other strategies for bloggers, but mine is to provide the highest amount of authenticity possible - and that also applies to my appareance.

If you've been following my blog during the past two years, then you know that what you see is what you get. There is absolutely no difference between Marly online and offline.

I'm no ass-kisser and no diplomat, no circle jerker and no lobbyist, I'm just a regular girl with a voice.

You won't see me smiling when I'm afraid, and you won't see my lying in order to get more street cred.

I'm a human being and no tag that could describe me
well would start with #insta.

My vlogs often include some out-takes at the end, proving that I'm a human being who makes mistakes and can even laugh about it - and I feel that the Steem community appreciates such type of "realness".

If you just be yourself, you can't ever be wrong.

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Do you appreciate such realness in social media, or do you prefer the #instaglamour? :-)

Let me know in the comments.

Much love,
Marly -
Steem Ambassador
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This blog was created in July 2016, aiming to provide thought-provoking content for open-minded people who go on adventure, step out of comfort zones and embrace the new.
Thanks for being part of the journey!

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PS: This blog post was edited and submitted via eSteem Surfer 1.1.12 - my favorite Steem desktop client that was developed by @good-karma's @esteemapp team. Check out their account for more information.

Original content. Quote found on lifelearnedfeelings.com

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You are the real deal Marley. I admire your tenacity, consistency, honestly, generosity and humour. Your posts have kept me coming back to Steemit during some difficult times over the past 6 months. Looking forward to your adventures over the next 2 years and beyond.

Very nice post @surfermarley. When I read the title of the blog I figured it would be about how nice it is to create an identity which is not real. I am glad to see that you went in the opposite direction. I also believe that you must always be true to yourself and what is real in life. Just because you post all of the good things on line that happen in your life, does not mean you only have good things happen in your life. We all have bad experiences and days which we would rather forget. It is best for all of us if we are aware of this and accept everyone for their positives and negatives. As a side note I have to say that I am no circle jerker either, but they are one of my favorite bands to listen to before going surfing. The Circle Jerks rock and thats all there is to it. Lets be real, keep it real, and live real. Have a great one @surfermarly. Enjoy

Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a detailed comment, @sandflea! Also I didn't expect less :-))

When I read the title of the blog I figured it would be about how nice it is to create an identity which is not real. I am glad to see that you went in the opposite direction.

Well it's a fine line. One might say that even selecting your pictures and only publishing those where you look good is a certain manipulation of facts...:-) However, in my surf videos people see me 100% the way I am, with undone hair and strange facial expressions, haha

Honestly I had no idea there was a band called Circle Jerks - lol. Now that might be even a cool cliffhanger for my next post :-D

Lets be real, keep it real, and live real.

Oh yeah!!! Enjoy your weekend, surfer :-))

I think your realness is one of the reasons we all love you so much.

Aaaaw, that's sweet, Wade! Thank you!! :-))
Wish you a great weekend with lots of real moments :-)

Yep. Nailed it. Good one, surfer!

Glad you share the same opinion :-)
Have a nice Friday!!

Realness is the best for health. ¡Saludos!

Fully agreed!
Happy and healthy weekend for you @fnux :-)

It's more peaceful being real, anyways! :D

Absolutely!!! Have a nice weekend of yours @wandereronwheels :-)

Thanks Marly! You too :)

I'm an authentic mannequin!
Big Plastic Hug
Steemitri The Mannequin

lol - big hugs back

I agree that authenticity is one of the most important aspects of social media success ...

... and you can fake that, you've got it made.

It feels very strange when I not make mistakes... So I am happy if there are mistakes... it helps get things more better.

And I hope day cool there and lot sun ... here in Estonia was warm... but soon start go back cold ..-19 :))))

  • @surfermarly I agree with you being transparent is great. Let us see ourselves as we are. We generate trust in our environment. I really liked it when you said freckles are your makeup. I have a lot of little ones too. Thank you for being who you are. A great day for you, I wish you. A hug.

To be honest there are quite few people who are really equal in both their lives :)

but clearly you are one of them and that is what we do like about (your followers)

Keep being what you are always !

loved the quote.. and the article
a few days back I was thinking the same thing..how people on social media are presenting a hyper-idealistic version of themselves instead of real ones.it's scary at times when you are connecting with so many on social media...and you really have no idea if the person is fake or real, thr is no transparency.
i can feel the how much you value the authenticity in your post
Much love and hugs ❤️

Completely 100%, spot on, realness all the way surfermarly.

I left Facebook for that very reason that it all just felt like a giant 'paint my life perfect' kinda affair. Completely fake. It is a strange thing but most of the people I knew on Fbook were all just posted their successes in these throw-away short posts with pics. These were mainly people I met while in university who had moved away. While I wanted to have a true catch-up, ask them if they had read any great new books, if they'd achieved that dream of writing like Kerouac while travelling, all they seemed to want was congrats on the latest big life-event.

This is why I love steemit. It is real here, in the comments people talk about their passions, get in debates and friendships seem as real as they could possibly be in a virtual world.

There is absolutely no difference between Marly online and offline. You won't see me smiling when I'm afraid, and you won't see my lying in order to get more street cred.

Fckin awesome. We need more real people around in this insta 'grab your attention' Instagram world.

Hello, if you want i can translate your posts into spanish for a perquisite, you will have more followers in different language.

@surfermarly I was always FIRST using social media - but I was always the one who didn't give a shit who follows me what I post etc.... I just wanted to feel that is all alright with me.... I remember that at some point by using facebook i become "wanna be" it actually locked me into the box - my friends from school, family etc all looked at me - but I was already different person the reason why my nickname here is what it is..... I always was about that FAKE - REAL, I never liked instaglamour or glamour at all - I believe I speak with my photos, but to be honest I'm turning to the point that as soon as people are happy being instaglamour then it's fine - what can we do about it ? Let them be happy :) Keep up with your content and stay real !......

BTW , I hope you are coming to Poland.... ? I'm happy to show you around and take you for some good munch!

Keeping yourself real and don't stress much about opinion of other. That is one of the hardest task to do. Great Job so far!

Somebody once said that if you always just stay with being authentically yourself, you'll never have to remember who you are. And you'll never forget. Which is pretty much what a lot of "posers" struggle with...

=^..^=

Thank you for this post! People in my view have lots of different identities depending if they're online, offline, which company they're in etc. online vs offline is most extreme- authentic is always the most likable!