Social media has become society’s most popular medium for self expression. My goal today is to address the issue of “social media vs. reality”. All stuff we post on social media today is enhanced to portray an almost surreal image of our lives to others. Is this ethical?

In my opinion, social media posts that showcase who you are as a person are acceptable. However, if your social media posts are ever false, or are posted with the intent of belittling another party, then you should refrain from posting.

To put this into perspective and argue my point, I’m going to relate posting on social media to wearing clothes. What sort of clothing you wear portrays the type of person you are. The sort of clothing you wear also depends on the occasion, and it is socially acceptable to dress up or down depending on your situation. Similarly, it is acceptable to portray your personal brand, and what you stand for on social media.

On a regular day, you would put on in clothing that you consider acceptable to be walking around in society with. For a special occasion such as a first date, you would probably dress up a little nicer to impress the person you are going to dinner with. When you are staying in on a lazy Sunday, comfort takes priority, and you wouldn’t really care so much about what you throw on.

Similarly, the stuff you put on your social media channels varies depending on mood and occasion; in my opinion, posting content which is true to the person that you are is completely acceptable! On a regular day, you may post a picture of the Tim Hortons breakfast you grab on the way to work. For a special occasion, you may post a photo of the fabulous meal you are having at the Hotel Georgia. When you are staying in on a lazy Sunday, comfort takes priority, and you may not post anything at all. Well, because you’re lazy.

The only times i believe that social media posts are unacceptable are when the posts are contrary to what is actually true, or are made with the sole intention of belittling others. For these cases, it’s definitely up to the poster to be conscious of the exact intentions behind their actions.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this, and am definitely open to other’s opinions. If you have any comments or opinions you think might lead to valuable discussion, please feel free to comment or shoot me a tweet! Thanks for reading 🙂

inspired by the article “This is How People Lie About Their Lives on Instagram”                  –> http://bit.ly/1MtNB1C