Is social media encouraging authenticity?

Suzanne Mercier - Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Today I participated in a new Sydney event, the Ideas Lunch, put on by Ideas Architect, Geoff McDonald.  You may be aware that Geoff is behind BookRapper which is so much more than a book summary.  Geoff takes the ideas and builds on them with practical solutions for business.  The Ideas Lunch is an opportunity to introduce the essential ideas and open up discussion about their application in business.

Today's topic was Trust Agents, which dealt with how to build trust in our online business dealings - through our websites and social media.  When we were talking about recognising that something put up on the web ... anywhere on the web ... can be picked up on other locations and stay on the internet forever, the conversation turned to not putting anything up on the web that we wouldn't want our mothers to see.  We then talked about the possibility that the internet provides us with the opportunity to be truly authentic in that moment; to bring down the walls of shame or discomfort that come from hiding who we really are and instead to be totally transparent.

We all have things we feel moved to hide.  We all think these things we hide are shameful secrets.  Yet, when we tell our secret and others do the same, we firstly feel much lighter, then we feel closer to the person we share our secret with.  Could it be that in some ways, social media is providing the opportunity for us to be authentic?  Or is it that social media and the internet are the equivalent of talking with strangers and we often feel much safer sharing our secrets with strangers thinking we'll never see them again.

What do you think?  I'd love to hear.
All the very best
Suzanne