Are You Really YOU On Social Media?

by on April 20, 2011 at 4:20 pm in social media

By Carrie Kerpen

There I was. It was 5:30AM. I was up because my mother is running a fever, and was incredibly weak– since she’s currently undergoing radiation therapy for breast cancer, and dealing with that in conjunction with Multiple Sclerosis. All that, of course, is taking place just a few months after her husband (my daddy) passed away. Of course, most of you don’t know this. Why? Because I don’t really talk very much about it on social media sites. Oh, you’ll see the occasional cryptic tweet about ‘life being short”, or “cherishing the moment”…and you may even see a check-in at a hospital or two, but generally, I don’t share too much of my personal struggles on social media sites.

Many Facebook-averse people that I meet tell me that the reason they don’t “do” social media is that people they know “overshare”. They don’t want to know that their friend just went to the dentist, or what their cousin is having for lunch. Although I am a heavy user of social media, I tend to fall into the category of an oversharing judger– and I haven’t really shared my recent trials for fear of sounding like a sad sack. But then, at 5:30 in the morning, I was looking at my tweetstream, and I came across @kristacolvin. Krista was tweeting about her hysterectomy, even using the hashtag #hysterectomy as she wrote about how she was feeling. Her tweetstream was filled with well wishers. I have followed Krista, but really havent interacted much with her. I checked out her bio:

Krista’s tweets have inspired me to share a little but more about my world with the social media world. I still probably won’t share every little detail of my existence, but I think that social media allows a greater support system for everyone. Hugs are hugs, whether they are virtual or in person. And couldn’t we all use a little more support?

 

I know there are a lot of feelings around how much to share on social media. And so, I ask you, how real are YOU on social media? Do you share your real self, just fluff, straight news, or somewhere in between? Share below!

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  • http://brittanyrubinstein.com/blog Brittany Rubinstein

    I definitely do like to share a bit of myself on social media and I like when other people do too. It reminds me that there’s an actual person behind the profile and not just a computer. Of course, there is such thing as over sharing, but as long as you know where to draw the line, I think it’s a good thing.

  • http://www.thesecauditor.com Joel Ungar

    I used Facebook to tell people I had prostate cancer. My wife used my account to update people after surgery, as did I. Some people were horrified I was that open but I think it strengthen a lot of relationships. Would do it again.

  • http://kenmcdaniels.info Ken McDaniel

    You have to share yourself to others, it’s very important. It allows them to relate to you in some cases. If you don’t share enough about yourself then your just another Social Bot!

  • http://www.serenityva.com Christine Buffaloe

    I do share some personal content on Facebook and Twitter. I find that I get quite a few positive responses when I do. Now, I won’t go so far as to discuss when I get my nails done, or what I had for dinner, but I do share other items.
    When I quit smoking, I did not go on and on about it, but I did share it and I received a lot of support. Kudos to discretion.

  • http://thetwinspin.blogspot.com Leigh Ann

    After a comment from my husband, I realized I was doing exactly what I hate: sharing too much about my bad days, agonizing over tantrums, nap refusals, and exhausting. He told me to go back and read all of my own updates, and he was right — all negative and whiney. So now I think twice before using social media as a platform to vent. I’m still myself, but I’m careful about how I portray myself — just like I would in public.

    I do think that sharing about your struggles can be somewhat gratifying, especially in your case when it would have brought you well wishes and good thoughts from friends. :)

  • http://cironstone.wordpress.com Christina Ironstone

    First of all, I commend Carrie Kerpen and @kristacolvin. Taking care of family is really important/ I’m glad krista could share her experiences about her surgery. Social media can connect you with others can relate to what you’re going through. I wish both of you well! Developing a support network is needed to help push past life’s difficulties!

    I am a Social Media Specialist and part of that role means being readily available and open on social media applications. Sharing information whether its personal or professional develops a sense of community, which leads to more interactions and support. I admit there is a line between sharing meaningful updates/ information to “oversharing”

    The movie easy A mocks status/ tweet updates “just got a coke zero at the gas station” by which Lisa K says something along the lines of “who cares??” No one wants to be spammed with pointless information. The point of using social media is to share whats relevant and important to you.

    I tweet @CreativeEditor
    and I like to tweet social media/ tech interesting articles, my blog posts, and interact with my followers! Also Who doesn’t like a good hug? :-D

    Find me @CreativeEditor
    http://cironstone.wordpress.com
    Google Buzz: christina ironstone
    For professional networking: http://www.linkedin.com/in/christinaironstone
    Digg: creativeeditor

  • http://www.puttingonmybiggirlpanties.com krista colvin

    Carrie… I’m honored you would blog about me. When I started my cancer journey I decided that cancer-related tweets would be added to my regular twitter stream… since my co is me ‘branded’ it seemed like a logical decision. ( http://www.kristacolvin.com )

    It’s been incredible to have such support from my Twitter community and my Facebook friends. People I haven’t seen in 30 years sent the most amazing + kind messages. Tweeps I didn’t know personally were there with a virtual hug or words of wisdom when I was feeling down. It could be 3 am… or mid day, my community was there.

    So with that said… I didn’t devulge all. I wasn’t always bitching. I opted to lean toward inspiration, humor, with a touch of reality. A dose of breast cancer 101 was thrown in for good measure.

    If I had to get cancer… I’m glad it waited til social media was in the picture ;)