SHOULD YOU USE YOUR REAL IDENTITY ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

PHOTO CREDIT: Arantes, Terence and I, very passionate graphic/web designers and developers after a church service.

There are a lot of issues about identity on social media. You probably have connected with someone who has some or all of the following attributes.

  • He/she has no profile picture,
  • Has no name or a fake name like Star Boy, Daughter of the Most High, Mount Zion, etc).
  • Always put a profile picture of a little boy or girl, whom we assume is their son or daughter.
  • Has no location or fake location. Their phone number is Cameroonian, but their profile shows they live in New York, Berlin, Johannesburg, etc
  • Never post a real picture of himself on social media.

The big question is:
Can you do online business with such a person?
Can you reveal private information to such an individual who doesn’t want to reveal just their identity, I guess your answer to these is absolutely not.

For some reason, someone might prefer to masks his identity, and that is okay. But if you are looking to going out there and using social media and the internet to create an impact, grow your business, organization or to transform lives, then here are some hard truths:

  • No one will trust you if they don’t know you.
  • No one will allow their personal or business information into the hands of an unidentified individual.
  • No one will link you to their network if you cannot prove that you are a real human that can be held accountable.
  • No one will trust you with their business if your social media activities cannot prove that you are someone with a reputable personal and family life.
  • No one will be comfortable to do business with or share information with someone who outrightly lies about the information that he has on his profile.

I am not saying that you should go out there and expose all your private, family or personal life to the world. In some cases, it might be risky to do so. In fact, never share any information on social media that you wouldn’t be comfortable putting on a public billboard.

The point here is that human beings are social beings, and therefore, on social media, you should appear real as a social being that people can be comfortable connecting with. Here are some tips to do so:

  • Use your real picture as your profile picture. Don’t use someone else’s photo, not even your son/daughter.
  • Use your real name (any two of your names)
  • Occasionally post pictures of your public social interactions, such as in worship center, hanging out with friends, cooking/eating, birthdays, sporting, and fun activities, but be moderate and considerate.
  • Share your real country and city (but not your private address, unless it is a business office).
  • Share your goals, aspirations, and the impact you intend to make on humanity through your social network.
  • Share helpful, educative and fun content.

All these make you appear like a real human who has real life to live and people will always find it easy to connect with you. Those who identify with your type of personality will easily connect with you. You will build trust with new people online. Your network will rapidly expand and many more business opportunities will come your way.

Social media is a great tool that God has placed in the hands of this generation. If you are a real human with passion, compassion, and godliness, then you can maximize it to achieve all your life goals for a greater impact on humanity.

By Njofie Wilson
Web Designer/Developer