Cringe.
In 2023, I was newly postpartum and stuck in a rocking chair for many, MANY hours every day nursing my son. I was drowning in depression, anxiety, and loneliness. I spent a lot of time on my phone scrolling Instagram, and one day, I decided I wanted to start posting more on socials. I had wanted to post for a long time, but I felt too embarrassed. I didn’t want strangers and, god forbid, people I knew in real life to think I was cringe. I was afraid to put myself out there because I didn’t want anyone to think I was embarrassing or that I wanted to become an influencer because, when I didn’t, they would think I failed. The more time I spent on socials, the more I realized these people were exactly like me. The only difference is that they didn’t care about what people thought to keep them from doing what they wanted, and they were successful because of that.
Long story short, I started posting silly things on socials, and I did not become an influencer. But that’s not the point. What I took away from all of this is the mentality of: if they can do it, I can do it, and I don’t care if people think I’m cringe because I’m not doing it for them; I’m doing it for me. How many times in my life had I not done something because I was afraid of being embarrassed? There are too many to count. I inadvertently missed out on lessons, potential success, and god knows what else because I feared how I would be perceived. In 2023, in the throws of postpartum, I decided that I’m not willing to miss out on myself—not because I’m cringe, not because I fail, not because I’m not everyone’s cup of tea. Once I adopted that mentality, I launched my digital marketing business, working as a social media manager, social media consultant, email marketing manager, newsletter writer, blog writer, and more.
As a digital marketer, one of the most significant pieces of advice for all of my social media management clients is to be yourself exactly as you are, which means stop letting the fear of being cringe motivate how you show up online and in life. No one else on this entire planet brings what you bring to this world. People don’t want anything to do with curated, fake content because inauthenticity is untrustworthy. People want to follow content creators and brands who are honest about who they are and take the time to build trust with their followers. The rapport built in that environment will drive growth, sales, business, and community. Whatever your goal, the way to be successful online is to be authentic. Will that authenticity be cringe to some people? For sure. But don’t forget that you’re not doing it for those people; you’re doing it for you.
