BeReal AND BePrivate?

Maintaining Your Privacy (And Sanity) On Social Media While Being "Real"?

Hannah Phillips
November 04, 2022

This ONE trick got me 10x more sales…

Can you be “Real” and still maintain your privacy (and sanity) on social media?

Many content strategists will tell you that in order to succeed on social media, you must be dripping with authenticity. YOU are the only unique thing about you. Bare it all, and share your triumphs and downfalls, your thoughts and feelings, angels and demons.

For the most part, I agree. If you use your own voice in your content, sooner or later you will attract your tribe.

But authenticity on social media doesn’t have to mean *oversharing.*

Here are two people that are authentic in dramatically different ways:

GaryVee:

What are some words that come to mind when you think about GaryVee?

Vlogs. Empathy. The NY Jets. Cussing. Garage Sales. TikTok. NFTs. Wine.

This unique blend of elements comes together to create the brand we know as GaryVee. So much of an authentic personal brand is leaning into your unique blend - the different interests, skills, and topics you’re passionate about that together, create your own little corner of the internet.

GaryVee has shared *so* many hours of content talking about each of his elements that we all just…get it. This is him.

THE Gary Vaynerchuk genuinely cares about those things.

Only those things? Certainly not.

He’s a son, brother, father, ex-husband and boyfriend.

There are aspects to GaryVee’s life that we will never see or understand. However, by hitting the same narratives and topics over and over again in his content, we don’t feel like we’re missing out.

The quantity of content he has shared over the years about wine, entrepreneurship, and buying the Jets has solidified the “realness” of Gary’s brand in our minds.

Gary has a steady rotation of beats to hit in his content and it’s decidedly not strange that he doesn’t talk about anything else.

His content is also pretty dynamic and aesthetically intriguing. Whether he’s running around NYC with his crew or jetting off to a keynote somewhere, you always feel like you’re “in the action.”

My next example is quite the opposite:

Hermes.the.cynic

I started following Hermes a couple of weeks ago, and since then he’s picked up about 50k followers.

His shtick is simple:Speak directly to the camera, up close and personal, with minimal cuts, in a fuzzy blue Snorlax onesie.

People follow Hermes for his candid, matter-of-fact rants on life, love, society, and whatever other big ideas are on his mind.

His nonchalant, yet blunt manner of speaking has ZERO TRACE of showmanship. No facade, no hidden agenda.

I don’t believe the man has an inauthentic bone in his body.

However, we know very little about Hermes himself.

He has shared a teensy bit about his weightloss, and will throw in the occasional funny comment about his own dating history or preferences, but the page is mostly just…his thoughts.

No bells or whistles to the production at all. It’s just Hermes with dose of his perspective for the day.

Both of the men above are showing up authentically on social media, in very different ways, and are still managing to keep personal matters private.