social currency.
What inspires you? Do you feel like you're falling behind? Do you feel pressured to talk about a trending topic? Do you have something that you're dying to share with everyone? Do you want a reaction from people? There's not a single person who stems from the same flower regardless if the originating flowers are the same. We're different; we may agree on something, yet express ourselves differently. We may also disagree on something, yet express ourselves in the same way. Though we discuss, we put walls up, we fight with logic, we make up with emotion, or vice versa, we're human beings and being different is what makes us unique.
social currency.
"Content that we share because we feel that it reflects well upon us to share it." -Brendan Kane, One Million Followers
Do we accept that we take part in social currency? This is happening before our eyes. (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat) "Make sure you vote." A picture regarding "Black Lives Matter," a picture outside of the temple or of teachings from church leaders, a picture or video regarding the tragedies happening in Yemen or other areas of the world. I've done this, I continue to do this. I don't think there's anything to be shameful about regarding social currency, I do believe however, that the old saying "actions speak louder than words" is and will always be applicable. This phrase is over 280 years old, and the idea behind the phrase is even older so let's use that same idea with what we experience today. "How you act daily speaks louder than what you post about supporting on social media." So, "make sure you vote" should consist more of behavior, not just opinions from what a media article told you, what your parents are saying, what your friends are saying, etc. If you believe something, live it, do it, be that person, act on change don't just speak about it. If you support "Black Lives Matter" act on it, be an advocate for change in the community. It's one thing for your peers to see that support for a month when it's trendy, but it's even BIGGER to live that support out every day moving forward. If you're posting content with your church, whether that's a teaching from leaders, a picture in front of temples or churches then live what that church supports in front of and behind closed doors. If you're living what you share, people already know. On the contrary, if you're not living what you're sharing, people already know. Sharing pictures or videos of tragedies in other countries is a good awareness tactic, but if you've seen it from a popular source it's more than likely that your friends have seen it as well. What happens the day or week after all of that content is shared? What are we now doing to further an impact, to further more change with the terrible things happening?
If you've ever had a conversation with me about my blog, you understand that I write these posts as letters to myself. I'm guilty of sharing content to be a part of social currency. There's a certain weight lifted when you feel like you've shared something that is widely respectable by your peers, you almost feel like "well, I've done my part," and there needs to be more. We all need to do more. Hence the word do and not say. I think that's why we're inspired when we see people achieving difficult things, or going through something excruciating yet making it through successfully. Why do we stop scrolling through our social media and watch when we see videos pop up? Because videos tend to show action while pictures don't. You have nothing to prove to anyone. If you make a decision, own that decision and know that you made that decision for you. Remember, we're different and that's why we're unique. We need to get out of the habit of doing things because others expect us to, or doing things because others will like us for it.
There's freedom in having expectations for yourself and not other people. We will fail every day, that's beauty and that's necessary. Fail because you're choosing you, not because you're choosing to look a certain way to someone else. We can talk all we want about how incredible it is to put one foot in front of the other, but until you put that one foot in front of the other, you'll never know.
sc.