The Paradox of Authenticity

Social Media's influence on the intimacy of personal journals

In essence, journaling, especially a personal memoir or intimate cathartic pieces, should be one’s unfiltered thoughts and such. It should be a reflection of their personalities, behavior, and thought patterns. The writer must be able to look back and reflect and analyze how much they have changed or the lack thereof. But some individuals cannot seem to be fully truthful in their entries; they often repress their true feelings and inputs, which defeats the inherent purpose of journaling as it is meant to be a space for expressing thoughts, despite how contradictory or ‘flawed’ their writings are perceived to be.

There lies a ‘Discrepancy Between Ideal Self and Actual Self’ — When journaling, individuals may find themselves navigating between their actual self and their ideal self. This discrepancy can be a source of anxiety. Some people might be tempted to write about their ideal self rather than their actual experiences and feelings, creating a form of dishonesty even in a private journal. [2] There are a lot of factors that contribute to this discrepancy; it includes the fear of confronting uncomfortable truths, a desire to maintain a positive self-image, and the most commonly seen anxiety about potential future readers. The ‘curated authenticity,’ which is the deliberate act of presenting oneself as genuine or unfiltered while simultaneously editing, framing, or managing that portrayal to align with specific self-image goals or external expectations, is often rooted in the performative habits developed through engagement with social media.

The distinction between one's private and public self-presentations has become convoluted in the current digital era. People's approach to even their private writing pursuits may be influenced by the culture of carefully planned self-presentation that social media has propagated [3]. Continuous exposure to meticulously constructed online personas may cause some people to feel under pressure, especially in private, to project an unrealistic self-image, thus struggling to be genuine when reflecting on themselves and feeling anxious that their actual sentiments and ideas might be divulged.

[2] Singh, P. (2015). RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-CONCEPT AND ANXIETY LEVELS OF HIGHER SECONDARY STUDENTS.

[3] Mohamad Ariff, N.Z., Ahmad Kassim, N., Mohd Shoid, M.S., & Baharuddin, K. (2021). Ethics and Integrity in Social Media. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences.