changing my narrative

I believe people associate me on social media as a typical girl who loves to get dressed up and take pictures of themselves. Similar to the way this ad by Always demonstrates the stereotype of being a girl in society, I try to change the narrative and contribute to evolving that concept. My posts in the past have generally consisted of me sitting there looking pretty. This confirms the narrative in a way that all I do is dress up and take pictures of myself (as expected for many girls to do today in modern society with the rise of influencer careers). I developed this understanding from my audience from all of the comments being about my looks and the quality of the photo. (feed before my narrative-revision plan pictured below)

This digital identity that I unintentionally created for myself and my audience online, bothered me. I wanted to allow people to see what I am really like, though posting more genuine and heartfelt content. I decided to switch up my feed by posting what I really do in a week. My audience may think I am just another pretty-faced, but I want to present them with a new idea. In reality, I am a huge computer nerd that does a lot of different roles in digital development and social media marketing. Unlike my feed my displays, I am actually a workaholic who loves math and video games and learning new software, etc. I think that because I previously posted pictures displaying myself in fashionable and trendy clothes, I created a narrative for myself that was inaccurate. Below is an example of me showing myself in my non-glamorous office (my room), in my robe, with my huge headphones on while I was editing a video for a client. This shows the authentic side of what my day-to-day really looks like: working and grinding on the computers. While I may not get as many comments and engagements on my posts when I post like this, I feel proud of the content I am putting out there because it is genuine and real.

Another issue I found with my online identity was that even I believed my life LOOKED too perfect, even though it is nothing close to that in reality. People assume I have a perfect, materialistic life when I don’t. In the past, I have failed to show this authentic perspective to my followers. To engage my audience with more authenticity means to allow a greater level of relatability and help encourage others that life does not always have to look or feel perfect.

I wanted to challenge the highlight reel aspect that people always try to achieve on social media by showing my moments of adversity to my audience to allow them to feel normal about their own as well. Here is an example of me showing my feed that I was in the hospital recently.

I believe people shouldn’t have to act perfect on social media because we are simply not perfect. While women in society are expected to have it all together all the time, I want to show people the mess: show people that my parents have been divorced 5 times, that I was bullied in high school, that my family dynamic is not the best, etc. By sharing my stories of adversity rather than pretty photos of me in nice clothes, I am truly touching people and inspiring them rather than just displaying beauty and being another face on their timeline.

Here is another example that I posted on Youtube and on my Second Instagram account, that helps show people my story with my mental health and how it is normal to go through things and not have to hide them or be ashamed of them.

These simple changes to how I portray myself on social media could contribute to a bigger change in how women of all ages are perceived by society. We are hard-working, intelligent, and strong and we don’t need to prove it to people, but WE CAN be an example. By displaying my skills in technology and showing the world that I am not just another pretty face, hopefully people can adapt to the idea that women are a powerful force not to be messed with. The revision to my posting styles may not produce the highest numbers of likes and comments, but that’s not what I am on social media to do. I am on social media to share my story and relate to others. I have actually made more genuine friendships over social media after implementing this change in my content. It definitely shows the power of quality over quantity. I really encourage every man and woman to do the same, and BE AUTHENTIC!

Published by Eleana Ramirez on February 18, 2022.