If there is one thing we should strive to do this New Year, it is to be our true, authentic selves on social media. We will not be seeking validation online by lying about our lifestyles in 2021.

We are all guilty of occasionally putting out information that show us in favourable light. The problem arises when we blatantly lie to make our lives seem more interesting.

The fear of being exposed as a fraud and a liar and being humiliated online is enough to deter me from ever flaunting a fake lifestyle for the gram. However, some people have decided that they will fake it until they make it. Here are a few things we should stop faking online in 2021:

How we look

It seems like we have all created an image in our minds of what we think perfection should look like. Couple that with the many filters and photo manipulation apps and you have yourself a generation of deluded individuals. Most of us don’t look anything like our Instagram feeds in real life because we don’t post a photo unless it has undergone a number of filters to make us look better.

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Some make themselves look lighter while others try to make themselves appear thinner. Others use the filters to hide their acne. There is a filter for everything!  At the end of the day, you live in fear of coming across your followers in real life.

Our social lives

A quick stroll through Snapchat will leave you believing that everyone is a party animal and they have multitude of friends except you. Their lives look so fantastic and fun!

It looks like they are always partying at the hottest joints in town, drinking the most exotic drinks. If only you knew that they pass by the club to have one drink before heading home and they take snaps with random people to appear like they’re having the time of their life.

It is all a lie. There is no shame in staying home on a Friday night if you can’t afford to go out.

Travelling

Going for a reboot at that exotic location was out of the bucket list for many in 2020 due to Covid-19. But I have a friend who once faked a whole vacation! I guess she was feeling tired of seeing her peers jetting off to faraway lands while she had never even been on a plane. One day, she announced she was going on vacation! 

She then posted a picture of a well-manicured hand holding a champagne glass overlooking the wing on an airplane in the clouds. A few hours later she posted a picture of a beautiful beach with a caption about how relaxing the destination was. She was quickly exposed by a neighbour of hers who told all her followers that she had just seen her in the neighbourhood. How embarrassing!

Food

 Do you know how expensive it is to eat in a five-star restaurant? Yet it seems that most of these unemployed ‘Instagram influencers’ eat out at chic restaurants on a daily basis. I once went out with a group of friends and we went to this high-end seafood restaurant. After we had ordered and our food was brought one of the girls we were with asked to take a picture of my food. I asked why since hers looked equally nice. She unashamedly told me that she intended to save the picture to post anther time. I was shocked!

The bottom line is, let us not be pushed to fake anything online this year. You don’t owe anyone anything; not light skin, not trips abroad and certainly not high definition photos of a five-star buffet. Happy 2021 folks!

@roxannekenya