When you show up on social media, keep it real!

When you show up, keep it real.

It was at a conference a few years ago. I wasn’t there to speak, as were some other young people, but I was surprised when after the program, some of the folks there made their way to the podium to take pictures, It is not the picture that is a big deal, it is the fact that they posed as speakers and pretended as if they were speaking.

A few days after the event, I saw their online posts about attending the said event and how it was a fine experience for them to speak. I was like, wow! The same event we attended?

I also remember a discussion with a friend who never shares stuff on social media because, according to her, a lot of people only travel abroad for two days for a conference but will take pictures that will last 100 days to portray them as being abroad. Lol.

Two interesting points; we see them all here. As someone who "shares" a lot about my process here, I am a big fan of young people not “winking in the dark”, I have come to realise that if you do solid work, it is a plus when you tell people about what you do, not just because it will open doors, but because it will inspire a lot of other young people to do better.

I have shared it here, and elsewhere, and I have learned far more about certain values as a result of how established professionals share their stories here.

But when you share, be REAL.

First, you need to know that nobody is competing with you. It is decent to commit to solid work in any field and do it well. Let your online profiling be more about “amplifying impact” and less about “showing off”.

Last week on Twitter, we saw a lot of controversy about a young person who attended a UN event but recorded herself in an alleged empty room and came online to say she was a speaker at the UN event. A lot of people debunked it as a lie, and the order of events also showed she wasn't a speaker. When I saw it, I was like, "Wow.

Attending the event on its own is a big deal, so why go extra to “show” you attended as a speaker? If the work you have been doing has given you an opportunity to be invited, why not get better and continue advancing impact? Your time to be invited as a speaker will come.

I understand that the atmosphere on social media comes with a lot of pressure, and most people are in a hurry to show up here and prove a point that something is going on for them as well, so they get to attend an event as a participant but still don’t feel fulfilled; then they end up taking pictures on the podium to “pose” as speakers.

If only you could calm down; keep building solid work, and continue to show up. You will get the opportunity to not only speak but you will also be paid for speaking at the highest level. But you have to build first, and the reason for building should not be to speak, but to solve problems. And as a friend puts it, “At some point, you outgrow the eagerness to be filmed speaking and focus on the quality of your representation such that it would be widely shared.”

The truth of the matter is, speaking at those events doesn’t mean you have arrived, not speaking or attending does not also mean you are not doing well, a room of 100 people cannot accommodate all young changemakers, the reason why some will get to attend and some will not. But really, the reason we do what we do isn’t to compete for who attends the most events; for me, it is about how we can leave the world better than we met it.

My dear friends, let us all climb the mountain to see the world; not so the world can see us; it is until then that the world will be better for it.

Today is Monday, another opportunity to try again.

#YouWillNotFail