Curation, Aesthetics, and Authenticity – Can We Have It All?

Curation, Aesthetics, and Authenticity – Can We Have It All?

This has been on my mind for years. For years. If you’re reading this post it’s probably something you’ve been pondering for a long time too. I won’t pretend to know the answer. If I did I’d probably be a more enlightened being, which I’m not.

My goal today is just to start the conversation. To share my thoughts on these topics and maybe get you thinking too. I want to share my perspective while staying open to others. Because again I don’t have an answer and most likely there are many answers.

What Do I Mean?

So what do I mean by this question: curation, aesthetics, and authenticity, can we have it all? Primarily, I’m thinking about social media, specifically Instagram. But this topic overlaps in many spaces. With social media, especially when it comes to personal brands, “influencers”, basically anyone speaking about their own life experience there’s a really fine balance in creating a “brand,” valuing curation, creating a visually aesthetic look and feel and being authentic. We’re told that we need all three to be successful but do they contradict each other?

What is Authenticity On Social Media?

You need authenticity because you need trust. And ultimately it can be self-destructive to fabricate a whole reality that isn’t true. But in this world where authenticity is a buzzword, it’s now become a marketing strategy. It’s turned into something you do on purpose rather than a simple act of being as you are, without trying to be something else. So who’s really being authentic and who are trying to be authentic? People think they’re getting the “real you” but it’s easy to cherry-pick the comfortably vulnerable things to share. So they’re getting a small slice of the “real you” without knowing how big the pie is. The word authentic has lost so much power because of overuse. So I almost feel like the word honest is more appropriate. How much of honesty is what we say and how much of it is what we choose not to say?

Then there’s the question of where is the line between authenticity and boundaries? Both are so important. You want to be yourself, but that doesn’t mean you have any obligation to share intimate details of your life. It doesn’t make you inauthentic to keep aspects of your life private.

As Consumers We Fill in the Gaps

I think the most challenging thing is that we as consumers tend to fill in that gaps that the people we follow have left open. So if someone you follow doesn’t talk about their relationship we kind of assume it’s great right? Or their kids? They must be great. Or their financial situation? They have nice things so isn’t it great?

Yet who does this fall on? Is it the influencer’s responsibility because they curate what they share and are also entitled to privacy. Or does it fall on the follower who subconsciously assumes details of this person’s life?

I kind of feel like its a bit of both. I think people who share their lives with large audiences should set up some context. Let people know that they do intentionally share specific aspects of their lives.

I also think a huge aspect of honesty and understanding authenticity is being a mindful consumer. Challenging those subconscious judgments that we have when we peer into a curated version of someone’s life. Remind ourselves that we just don’t know what we don’t know.

Even if someone shares “what they eat in a day” or a “day in the life” we actually will never see everything. We also will never feel how they feel in their bodies, in their relationships, in their highs and lows. We can only see the photos and read the stories. Which we all know from experience isn’t the same thing as reality, no matter how close to “real time” it gets.

My Personal Intentions on Social Media

Here’s are some of my thoughts as someone who follows a lot of different “influencers” and as someone who does this for a living.

I try to go into this with as much self-awareness as I can and with the awareness that I also have blind spots. That I might think I’m doing one thing but it can be perceived as another. That I’ll never know my true influence because I’m not living the lives of the people following me.

Taking Responsibility

I try to take as much responsibility as an influencer and as a consumer and hope that the people I’m connecting with have that same intention. It’s also not my job to police other people. I believe we have the greatest power by being empowered and evolving in our own lives and living as an example. So if I see someone make a choice I wouldn’t make, rather than attack them and add energy to something I don’t believe, I choose to make the choice that feels right for me.

Intention is Power

I believe intent is so powerful. I believe it’s an invisible force that people can feel. It’s the thing I can’t quite articulate but can always sense. Intent is forgiving. It allows you to be human. So as long as I keep connecting my positive, empowering and loving intentions, I know that it’s ok if I make a mistake or two… or 20. It’s when my intentions aren’t aligned that those mistakes can break me.

I feel that way when I’m following someone too. If I feel those positive intentions and their alignment with my own, it’s deeper than words. I can feel their humanity even if all I see is photos and words.

Is it Ok to Care About Aesthetics?

I believe Instagram for me personally is a platform of creativity. I use my life as my inspiration, but the things I create are creations. The same way a self-portrait is not a 3D representation, the same way a photo is a millisecond in time, the same way a movie is a 2-hour document of a long story, the same way art is a reflection of life, Instagram is a creative representation. The amazing thing is that we get to interact with it. We don’t just share, we also converse which makes things feel extra real. But at the end of the day, a life experience will never be summed up in a beautiful grid. That doesn’t mean the beautiful grid isn’t valuable or valid. If you want to put time and effort into creating a beautiful representation that’s one valid path. I don’t think it makes it inauthentic, especially when you’re honest about the context in which you create it.

So if you’re honest that the images are creative representations, it’s ok that they’re not “real.”

Provide & Seek Context

On a practical level, I want to provide people with plenty of context in my life. That’s why I love podcasts because you make a deeper connection than words alone. That’s why I like blog posts because they are deeper dives. Hopefully, these platforms provide more context on my life and how it might relate (or not relate) to yours.

I think as a reader and consumer we need to know where we need a lot of contexts to really understand something. For example, with anything health related we need SO much context. More context than perhaps any social platform could ever provide. So knowing that we can consume health and wellness and even mental health content knowing what we don’t know. It’s why I stay away from trends until I’ve done my own research. It’s why I don’t tell people what to do. Because I don’t know them on that level. It’s why with any piece of advice I’d ever share I would tell you to listen to your gut over me every time.

I think curating, staying honest and authentic about your experience and creating a visually aesthetic “brand” or feed or art is a juggle. There will be times when you’ve nailed it and there will be a lot of times when you drop the ball(s).

I want to hear from you!

This conversation fascinates me so I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially from a consumer perspective. What kinds of people do you enjoy connecting? What’s your definition of authenticity? What do you want to see more of in this space?

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