John Saddington’s post on authenticity a few days ago triggered me to think about why I love social networking & platforms like twitter so much. It’s appealing to be in complete control of the conversational flow I come in contact with.

To me, the main advantage in social networking is that we control what parts of ourselves we allow others to see.  Even the term “social networking” lends itself to the idea that we’re on a perpetual first date with the entire planet, and if we only want them to see the best of ourselves all the time, that’s our prerogative.

Facebook, MySpace, and similar platforms are excellent tools for creating & maintaining relationships that would never exist otherwise.  However, when we feel the need to randomly impress an entire contact list full of people we haven’t seen since junior high, something goes very wrong inside. We tend to speak from who we want people to see us as, as opposed to who we really are.

I suspect that the unhealthy habit of holding hoards of people “at arms length” through crafted communication is what keeps us from ever cultivating any meaningful relationships in the first place.  If we aren’t careful, we can sacrifice the few deep relationships for the many surface ones.

No wonder the entire world is calling for someone, anyone, to display true authenticity.

When we’re branding ourselves through social networking, does anyone get the message that we actually care about them?  When online,  before clicking “Submit” on anything, we must continually ask ourselves:  “What’s my motive for saying this?…To impress someone?…To be entertaining or witty?…To geniunely connect?…….….Am I being authentic?”

What needs to be done to make sure that the “right” message is conveyed and communicated? What should be done?