Who Am I In Social Media Land?

Social Media is an interesting place.

Because with a few words, a couple of pictures, and other odds and ends....

You can portray yourself however you wished to be portrayed.

The fashionista. The up and coming chef, the mystery writer, the landscape photographer, the person who gushes constantly about their significant other or their children. The person obsessed with a series of comics.

You can basically make yourself out to be whoever you want to be.
And it's not always the truth.
Or if it is the truth, it may only be a partial truth.
Like choosing to only talk about the good things and make things appear better than they are in reality.

And it's interesting, the perspectives that people can have of you because of that.
Occasionally those perspectives being totally different from what you had intended in the first place.

*shakes head*

And since Social Media is a huge part of our lives nowadays, where we learn and connect and feel for each other through words/images on a screen.
It's easy to think that you know the person well based off of what they decide to put up on internet land.

Yet.
It's never the full picture.
You never see the full persona of the person in internet land.
Just as it's hard to see the full persona in real life too I suppose. Not without constant contact with the individual to see the different facets of themselves. How they react in public, in private, to things they like or don't like.

*exhales*

In any case.

It's interesting to see how people take what you place onto social media platforms.

Most of the time, for me, I try to go for funny/inspirational.
It's things that I find inspiring, things I find funny, things where I can only shake my head and laugh and go "seriously?"
My goal is to give people a reason to smile throughout the day.
To occasionally make them think.
And to often uplift and inspire them. Give them a boost throughout the day.

But I suppose it doesn't always come off like that.

It may come across that I hate my job because I'm constantly posting short snippets about customers I've had to deal with.
Or that I'm seriously struggling with writing because I'm complaining about how hard it is.
Or that I'm some goodie goodie naïve girl who doesn't understand the world isn't as nice as I make it out to be.

Which is kinda eyebrow raising when it's brought to my attention.

Do I hate my job?
No. No. I don't.
I complain out of love. Out of a fond exasperation.
Just like a parent would be like "You won't believe what little Jimmy did to the dog today." sort of thing.
Some days at work are harder to deal with than others. Like any job really. You have good days and bad days.
But I truly do enjoy where I work. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't have stayed as long as I have. Because it's always been my goal to work at a place I love.
And I love my job.
The animals I can take care of, the people I can help, the sense of accomplishment I feel.
It's great.
And my job has helped me to grow more comfortable with interacting with people, getting their stories, learning that there are just some people you can't understand, and just basically enjoying making connections.

And it's interesting to see that people don't get that. That I'm complaining out of love. lol.
My sister doesn't. She sees the posts I make and wonders "Why don't I just quit?"
I've gotten that same response from others friends and family in the past as well. lol because they didn't realize that I'm just posting because it's fun to talk about work, to complain a bit, to show that "wow...people say weird things and do weird things."

Writing. *exhales* Ah.
Writing is a challenge that's for sure.
And again I try to make my struggles fun to read. Complaining because geez, writing is hard.
I may know the steps, may know the process, may know what to do.
But honestly, if your brain won't cooperate with your fingers and you work yourself into a corner and can't think a way out....
Ya gotta complain about it somewhere. Let the frustration out. As often venting a bit can help you find the clarity you need for a problem.
It's not that I'm posting about writing to look for help.
I'm posting to try and give people a smile as I deal with my own frustrations. lol.

But I think the main challenge I see from people who see me in social media land....(and in real life too...)
Is that often they tend to categorize me as this naïve innocent person, who will step out of their happy little bubble one day, see the world is on fire and go AHHHH!!! THE WORLD IS ON FIRE HELP ME I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO I DIDN'T REALIZE THE WORLD WAS ON FIRE!!

*shakes head*
I know the world is burning. I know that life isn't easy. I know that people think differently than me, feel differently than me, understand and see the world differently than me.
That doesn't mean that I can't keep up a positive outlook on life though. That I can't connect and be friends with people who are different than me. That I can't be both 'innocent' and understand that the world has some dark corners to it.
*exhales*
It's not like I don't have my own inner demons to deal with, that I don't watch the news, that I don't read books or watch movies.

I just choose to....try and find the positive I suppose. To not focus on the negative as much.
lol. It doesn't stop me from ranting here on the blogs on occasion, or banging my head against the keys over at Facebook ranting that once again I have another stupid headache or I've come across another writer's block, or wow I had to deal with six customers in a row that got on my nerves....

*shrugs*
Yah...I dunno what I'm trying to say really....
Only that....I'm not the full person you think I am. (No one is on social media, there's always something that they're not telling you.)
I try to show as much of my persona in social media as I can, try to be 'the real me.' Try to show who I truly am.
Via Blogger, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter....
But each platform doesn't always give people the whole picture me. Some give a very skewed image, others show a bigger picture...
I don't even know if it's possible if someone actually follows every single platform I use, for them to even then, see a more complete picture as to who I am. lol. *shakes head*

The musing dreaming blogger, the idealistic Facebooker, the fanatical Tumblrling, the spiritual but baseball obsessed Twitterer.

And even then....the picture isn't complete.
After all, people will only know you through what you choose to show them.

People are complicated. That's for sure.
There's always another story, another reason, a different perspective that may come to light depending on how the stars align and the situation unfolds.

I suppose that's what makes it fun. Social Media. Because you get to see just how similar or different everyone is to you. :)

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi