The Power of Authenticity: How to Be Yourself and Go Viral on Social Media

Social media has taken over the world and transformed the way that so many view it. It’s not unheard of for people to want the “perfect life” because of what they have seen others have on platforms like Instagram or TikTok.

However, while we all want to have the materialistic things that can make us appear to have the “perfect lives”, there is a changing of the guard when it comes to seeing what’s going viral these days.

Users are tending to follow and enjoy the content that appeals to them through emotional connections and relatability. As users, we are more likely to be attracted to videos and clips that we can appreciate as being “more real” in our daily lives. As a result, authenticity has become a powerful component of video creation and is, arguably, the key ingredient.

How do you maintain authenticity when making a video to go viral?

Being authentic can be a difficult skill to achieve, especially when there is a camera stuck in front of an individual’s face, and the main aim is to go viral. As human beings, we can be very self-aware about ourselves and our personalities, often being critical about who we are and being concerned about other people’s judgements.

Authenticity, though, does need to come through in a video, as consumer tastes dictate that this is the current trend. It helps to achieve a level of trust and a degree of accountability with viewers. They won’t feel they are being fobbed off with a scripted ploy simply to achieve the most views possible. If something appears more genuine and authentic, the hits are likely to increase naturally, as will watch time and shares.

It’s important the individual sticks to their core personality and character. They need to try and forget that there is a camera there filming what they are doing and remain true to themselves. If they do this, they are more likely to go viral than something that has been scripted from the first to the final seconds of the clip.

Editing can play a role but remain authentic

Remaining authentic is still a possibility, even when doing the post-production editing stage of the video. As long as an individual’s personality or the activity that is filmed remains true and genuine, the editing process can actually help to make the video go viral.

It’s possible to add music that has been designed to be made available as free stock music for videos to the clips to enhance the audio experience that can be enjoyed by viewers. Creating a tune can be part of the overall experience, or it can provide an identifier that people can immediately associate with the uploader’s content, which could drive further views in the future.

Additionally, edits such as adding special effects or overlays to moments that happen within the video can help enhance its chances of going viral. These aspects don’t have to impact the actual act that has been impacted, but they can add some humor or interactivity to the clip that makes viewers want to engage with it in various ways. Even something as simple as subtitles can be enough to capture attention and send it viral.

Being yourself is the best way

In almost all walks of life, it’s always best to be yourself whenever you can. Social media has arguably created a rather distorted and mythical view of what viral content can look like and what a “perfect life” actually is.

By being yourself, you know you can be happier as a person and don’t necessarily have the pressures of trying to live up to certain expectations that have been formed because of an incident where you weren’t quite who you are.

Being authentic and even vulnerable can generate emotional connections with audiences. This will help them relate to the content, which may help it go viral and explode across social media.

No one likes to be fooled in life, and most can spot when something isn’t genuine. If your content isn’t genuine and is aimed to deceive in the quest of going viral, it’ll either do one of two things: go viral for the wrong reasons or damage your reputation online and any chance of going viral in the first place.