- Have you ever felt trapped by your public persona?
- Do you ever get tired of being what everyone expects you to be?
I received a comment on one of my videos the other day that made me realize just how much social media can influence our public personae. I realize I'm not the only one experiencing this, so I decided to shoot a video to get our authenticity wheels turning.
The commenter stated on my jump rope video lesson: "So who told you to stop being so funny".
I'm not a comedian in all of my videos because I'm not always funny, and quite frankly, it's exhausting trying to be a comedian 24/7. In my opinion, committing to one persona online is bad for business because it will inevitably compromise authenticity. I can't force funny... it just happens when it happens... I don't script it ... it's all improv. Furthermore, there are times when I want to convey a serious message, which means humour needs to take a back seat or else I may compromise my credibility. That is why I elect to showcase many of my personality traits in my videos. Besides, it's hard to trust someone who is wearing a theatrical mask 24/7. It's also bad for my mental health if I have to try to be funny all the time because I cannot live up to the unrealistic expectation to be funny on command. The only sustainable approach is to be myself.
Here's a question: Would you actually like to meet your public persona in real life?
I'd love to read your thoughts and experiences... please comment below!
