Shown, Not Known

My starting premise is that humans need to be known & loved. To thrive, you need a handful of people (preferably a whole community of people) who really know you and really love you. This means a mix of friends and family know the real you and love the real you, as opposed to the alternatives:

1) Alternative 1: Being Known & Unloved (rejection)

2) Alternative 2: Being Unknown & Loved (fake love for the fake you)

3) Alternative 3: Being Unknown & Unloved (total isolation and loneliness)

Our social media age has presented another alternative that precedes the starting line of the Known & Loved paradigm: to be Shown, Not Known (Shown & Unknown). Many use social media as their primary connection point/way of relating, entrusting platforms and algorithms to show their lives. Such people do much showing, but receive little knowing. It's "Let me show you, let me show you, let me show you," but nobody knows you.

Today's platforms are tools we can use for positive or negative outcomes. The "Known & Loved" dynamic provides a helpful lens for wisely using social media. Ask yourself, "Does this content I plan to share come from a place of me already experiencing a strong Known & Loved dynamic in my physical community and wanting others experience the same in their physical communities, or am I merely participating in the shallow 'Shown, Not Known' culture of my times?"

Think of this like food. Your three square meals a day should come from living life with people who know and love you. With that in your stomach, social media can be a great dessert.