how fake is your social media?

I have some stories to tell that I came up with this question, how fake is your social media?

Personally, I wouldn’t call it fake. Maybe just, filtered? Perhaps it is so filtered that people might wonder if it is still your true self; hence, “fake.”

Just recently, I was looking for writers that can join our team. I had a couple of questions about the position. What surprised me, though, was one of my friends when she said she wanted to try the job because she has been unemployed for 3 months already.

Unemployed??? Since when???

I thought she has a job because of her Instagram posts. She said it’s just pure x-deals and whatnot. Did I really make an assumption because of her posts? Yes, I did. I’m guilty.

Another story was when a friend told me that I seemed to be doing financially okay. Where? When?  Oh, how I wished. I am still swimming in debts, my brother is still in college, I don’t have a regular paycheck. I am definitely not doing well financially. So I wondered what made her think that? Then, I remembered I started showing up again to people (after being gone for so long). I started posting on social media, too. But to be honest, my friends pay for my food and whatnot. I am at their mercy. I was actually in Cebu and Bohol last week, and it’s also thanks to my friends.

“Sumama ka na. Kaming bahala sayo.”

So, I went. I am really really grateful. I promised to pay them back as soon as I get these shits sorted out, though. Yes, I started accepting help. I am no longer ashamed. I will always be grateful and remember these people that have been there for me when I needed it the most. I am going to return all these favours. My friends know that I will, but they still assure me not to worry too much about it.

Not everyone who travels are doing financially okay. Some people go on a budget trip, some might have received sponsors, free accommodation, seat sales – the possibilities are endless. We see pictures, but we don’t know what’s behind every shot. Why do they have to travel so bad that they have to forget about other responsibilities for awhile? Do they feel suffocated in their current state that they need to escape? The thing is, we don’t know. We don’t know the extent beyond the reasons.

I have a friend who goes back and forth in Korea. Maybe she is doing financially okay. I don’t know. But I know for sure that she works so hard. If you are familiar with “pasa-buy” and other “GOs” (group orders), you will know that you can actually earn a profit if you do that. Maybe that’s also her way to support her travel? Who knows?

I also have a friend who collects albums; you’d think she earns a lot. Not really. Since shipping fee can be too much, she sells albums too. With that, she can at least get the fee off her budget. It’s the life of a fangirl, y’all.

The things we do to survive, do and get what we want, right? I’m amazed.

What is also interesting to me is the way entertainers and vloggers are on cam. We don’t know how they are off cam. They can be a totally different person, but that doesn’t make them fake. Let’s call it personas. We adapt. We adapt depending on the settings. I’m pretty sure we have different personalities at home and outside our comfort zone. We can’t judge someone by acting out in certain circumstances. I saw this tweet last night that says: You can’t judge my story by the chapter you walked in on.

Some of us would say that not everything you see in social media is true. Yes. But, I don’t think they are fake either. We all have our reasons for sharing what we share.

Maybe some of us share that we are going places and eating right because we want to show our parents and relatives that we are doing okay – despite us hating the job or having trouble sleeping at night. We don’t want them to worry by sharing our problems.

Maybe some of us share stories online because they have no one to talk to about their adventures and misadventures. Maybe we just genuinely want to share the good stuff over the bad stuff.

Or perhaps some of us post these things that we genuinely want to believe in. Maybe you just really want to feel good. It’s like creating the world that you want for yourself. I don’t know. As long as you are happy and you are not causing harm to anyone, it’s fine.

As long as you don’t let the likes and hearts define your worth, it’s fine.

I usually don’t care what other people post about. I barely scroll on Facebook or Instagram. I only go to Twitter for BTS. Hahaha! I guess what I’m saying is, you should also know how to filter what you consume. If you filter what you post, you should also filter what gets into you.

Thanks for reading this rant (?). I just miss blogging. It’s hard to make time, but I feel like my head is going to explode because I have all these thoughts in my head that I want to dump somewhere – then I remember that I have a blog for a reason. 

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