Just Post It

The previous two editions, Just Start and Self-Doubt, were written in a way to set up today’s topic. There is a reason I made zero mention of social media when talking about “just starting” a habit or overcoming “self-doubt.” The reason was I believe social media deserved its own piece because it fully encapsulates both of these ideas.

For good or bad social media is a category fully entrenched in day-to-day life. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok have billions of collective users who log in every day. I would assume my average reader has accounts on most of these platforms and spends countless hours browsing them over the course of a year. Social media platforms hunt for our attention, and they get it. I personally believe there is both a lot of good and a lot of bad resulting from social media platforms. In focusing on the good, information and videos of how to do anything are clicks away, inspiration and people to look up to are a follow away, but most importantly, there has never been a time in humanity’s history where it is easier and more realistic to be found.

Throughout history, musicians used to have to audition and hope for a big break to release a hit song. Now musicians are constantly posting to Soundcloud and TikTok starting trends with songs that seemingly blow up overnight. Athletes used to have to mail tapes to coaches with the hopes they would respond. Now there are countless recruiting platforms aggregating data with the click of a button. People with a passion for cooking used to only have it as a hobby. Now you can make a career of making “How-to” videos on TikTok or Instagram Reels. I am not diminishing the talent of any of these successful people. I am merely recognizing the increased possibility of being seen and your talent being discovered. All it takes is the right person to be moved by what you posted. You need one break to go your way.

This thesis brings me back to the posts from the last two days: Just Start and Self-Doubt. No type of social media success I have brought up started with 0 social media posts. Is it possible that some people had their first post go viral and have immediate success? Absolutely! But they still chose to take action and post. People who think about their ideas, hobbies, and entertainment value, and choose not to act are missing the chance at changing their lives. “Just starting” with social media involves deliberate action. It involves finding something you are passionate about, want to share, want to work towards, and hitting post. Nothing will happen with inaction. It is important to realize your first posts do not need to be perfect. You do not need to know how to edit videos to make a TikTok. The more you post, the more you inherently practice. Through posting more, you will learn more tricks on how to produce content people care about and want to watch.

That being said, posting on social media is hard. It involves taking normally private activities, events, pictures, conversations and making them public. Social media is hard because of Self-Doubt. “They are prettier than me.” “I look fat.” “I sound weird.” “People will look at me differently.” The amount of deterrents I can come up with about posting is limitless. Provided you are able to move past these thoughts and hit post, you will encounter further feelings of doubt. “I only have ___ likes.” “That person I wanted to like this post, did not like it.” “I have been posting for 2 weeks and my engagement has not changed.” Pre and post-posting self-doubt are very common feelings to have in social media and are some of the most negative aspects of social media.

The most powerful feeling is when you can overcome these thoughts. Realize you are putting your posts online because you want to. You are posting for yourself. It does not matter what ___ from high school thinks of you. You want to see what your account looks like in a year of posting workout videos. You believe your at-home cooking videos are worth creating, worth posting, and worth watching. You care and that is what matters the most. When you overcome these feelings of self-doubt with social media you are much more free to act and pursue the unlimited potential of what can happen with social media. I still am not fully used to posting myself online on a consistent basis. I still struggle with thoughts that I look weird, sound weird, or that people will look at me differently. I also have chosen to not let these feelings stop me and to “just post it.”