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The social media influencer game is out of control these days. It’s getting to the point where some of these people are just plain unwatchable and unfollowable. To use a term often used by Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s literary classic “Catcher in the Rye,” they’re phony.
In an effort to monetize their social media presence, many social media influencers will seemingly say anything, do anything, or pitch any product, if it can get them clicks, views, and engagement. If that’s not the definition of what a phony is, I don’t know what is. And so with that in mind, here are 3 basic tips for staying authentic on social media.
Tip 1: Stop thinking in terms of audience size
Perhaps the biggest mistake that social media influencers make these days is focusing too much on the size of their audience. They’re too worried about getting to a certain number of followers, and they go about reminding you all the time to subscribe, like, and follow. They constantly tell you how close they are to reaching a certain audience size, and how you need to be doing all you can do to help them reach that goal.
But I think that’s all wrong. That’s part of what’s flawed with social media these days. Instead of thinking in terms of friends and relationships, these influencers are thinking in terms of audience size and transactional relationships. Everything is about getting monetized, staying monetized, and selling all kinds of “merch” to help ends meet. How many t-shirts from our favorite social media influencers are we supposed to buy?
Tip 2: Tell people what your values are
An easy way to avoid being a phony on social media is simply telling people what your values are. This will help you create content that really resonates with people. And it will stop you from becoming a victim of the dreaded social media algorithm. You will be creating content that you actually care about, instead of content that you think will do well on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok.
Yes, it’s important to use metrics to calibrate the scope and reach of your content. But there’s a point where you have to lead with your heart, and not your head. You need to do what makes sense for you as a person, not just what makes sense for your return on investment (ROI). That’s hard to do, but it’s an approach that can create loyal fans and followers. They want to support real people, not phony sell-outs.
Tip 3: Be careful how you use AI
Artificial intelligence, by its very name, is fake. It’s phony, as Holden Caulfied would say. And so this is a warning that you should probably be very careful about using AI to generate content in bulk for social media. Yes, you might be able to monetize more content, but swamping people with more content can also be a big turn-off to many followers and subscribers.
