If there’s one thing I learned from being online, it’s the fact that I have overshared my presence. In the past, I told people, “go share your content online, on multiple platforms!,” but nowadays I am but a shell of that.
I would now tell you to be wary of what you share, for several reasons:
- You speak your thoughts in public, and all of a sudden there would be people who will stress you out, call you names, etc. Or you’re on the other side calling out the worst people for reasons you find right and/or justified. And then you end up hurting them, with others hurt along the process.
- You share your important milestones such as your birthday, and a quick OSINT could reveal how old you are and when you were born. This can be used in social engineering if you’re not careful enough.
- You share a lot on your Facebook/Twitter profile with the idea of being helpful or updating your friends on relevant matters. You end up turning your personal social media profile into you own kind of bookmarking service a la Pinterest or Reddit. There’s nothing wrong with that, however, do you really remember to look back into it from time to time? (I don’t, and Facebook has to remind me of the posts I shared from the past).
- You’re a fellow tito/tita who shares every moment, to a point you’re sharing what happens with you every hour (to which I ask you to please pick the people you share your status updates with).
If you find yourself in these situations – and calling yourself “chronically online” – you must have been oversharing. I have been doing this, so I decided to take down the stuff which no longer makes me proud.
For example, I’ve done podcasts with several people, and the episodes I had with them end up being taken out of the public eye because they:
- Are no longer my friends
- Are now frowned upon because of their actions and I’d like to distance myself from them
- Are the ones I tried to please but I have to let them go because I just don’t feel it
- Something happened that needs no further elaboration
Same goes with my past blog posts which I have taken down either because I am embarrassed with what I written, or it’s no longer relevant to the me today.
If you happen to be in those four categories, and I am no longer communicating with you (or even speaking of kind regards), it’s best to just ignore each others’ presence. I will do my best not to to reopen wounds. Go and be happy.
I see no fear in starting from square one again, it’s something I am used to doing whenever I am no longer satisfied with what I do. That’s why I recycled a reserved Twitter account I own.
Even so, be unique still in what you share to the public, and enjoy what you do. Do not die in that rabbit hole a terribly sad and angry person. Take back your inner peace. Do not tolerate bad actors. Pick your battles. Remember what makes you happy in the first place. Remember what makes you feel alive.