The real me is a repost

Curating your real online persona, one repost at a time.

I have a theory that if you really want to know someone, all you have to do is watch what they repost on TikTok. Or any other form of social media. But especially TikTok.

Do what you will with that information.

I feel this way for many reasons.

One, I’m addicted to reposting content, and I’m fully aware that the content I repost says more about me than anything I have posted on social media myself.

This doesn’t mean I’m not authentic on social media, but there’s definitely a certain filter when I hit that share button. I think this might have something to do with the medium itself, where everything looks and feels more best version of myself than real version of myself. A little world that we have created for ourselves where we can control how others perceive us (we can’t, really). A universe where being aesthetically pleasing and romanticizing every aspect of your existence usually triumphs over personality and reality. It leads to what many people are experiencing when they go online, which is feeling saturated and drained (go read Um Passo from the brilliant Tamires for more on that; while you’re there, do yourself a favor and subscribe to her newsletter), craving something else, something that can’t be reduced to an algorithm that allegedly knows us better than we know ourselves.

But back to reposting and why reposting is the ultimate way of truly knowing someone, because that’s what we’re here for.

Two, every time I come across a risky video on my fyp, there’s always that one person in the comment section. Born to repost, forced to like. It proves the point that reposting is another way of communicating how you feel, especially when you feel like you can’t really communicate how you feel. At least not in the traditional work it out on the remix way of having a conversation. Does that make sense? Although we’re all self-aware adults here, that doesn’t mean we can’t drop a hint with a hilarious TikTok from time to time. Let us live!

Third, reposting is in itself a form of curation. You can definitely shape the conversation and curate an intriguing, funny, mysterious, sophisticated, stylish, intelligent online persona solely based on what you repost. You can also just treat it as an optimized version of your fyp and go back whenever you need to feel something.

Unlike the rest of social media where you MUST, MUST, MUST find your niche or else—although I understand the point, I kind of hate this idea of having to find one single niche to be successful on social media, because doesn’t that strip away our complexities and multitudes as human beings? like, can I enjoy two things at the same time and not be punished for it?—, the reposting section feels like the place where you can go from cute dog video to batshit crazy conspiracy theory. And isn’t that fun!

Fourth, reposting creates a sort of unspoken community. There’s a special place in whatever form of heaven you believe in for those someone liked the video you reposted notifications. There’s nothing more satisfying than opening TikTok and having like thirty of those. It’s like a reward.

Every time this happens, it makes me feel seen. Validated. Part of something. I see you out there enjoying the same things I do! Who would’ve guessed we both liked this very specific piece of content? I also feel bad for you if you’re liking and reposting THAT. I want to know if you’re ok. Are you ok? Because I’m definitely not. If I wasn’t so awkward at approaching people and afraid of looking crazy, I would message you with a hey, saw your repost, love this topic, want to be friends and talk more about it over an iced matcha someday?

@allienevillemccain#relatable

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As we’re all trying to find a corner of the Internet where we can feel good about ourselves again, while still navigating an Internet that is heavily focused on perception and virality—sometimes at the expense of truth—, reposting gives us a glimpse of what’s really going on inside someone else’s mind. I find it fascinating that we can use this Uno card-like feature to show who we are without having to necessarily expose ourselves. Sometimes the most interesting people you know are the one’s that rarely post on social media, the one’s who don’t feel comfortable posting on social media, or the one’s who don’t even have social media. We can argue that it’s not that deep (maybe it isn’t), but I think we’ve all come to the conclusion that everything we do online (or almost everything) has become intentional and calculated.

We’re no longer in that era where posting was spontaneous. Social media presence has almost become a business for many of us, leaving less room for spur-of-the-moment decisions. Remember when Instagram Stories would be exactly that, because they only lasted a day? Now it’s all strategy this, algorithm that. Can you even be successful in your own passions if you don’t have followers and engagement rates and do this TikTok because that’s what’s trending? It kind of sucks.

But that’s precisely why I love reposting so much. Because even though there’s intention behind it, it still feels impromptu. You don’t have to stand there thinking if you should repost it or not, you just do it and move on to the next video. Maybe it’s because you’re not showing your face or saying the words with your own voice, which in itself feels like less of a commitment. Either way, it still shows who you are. And we love to see it.

@vpm.m@Roshana♡ love ya #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #foru #repost

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+ here are a few things I’ve read and loved

Your phone is why you don’t feel sexy, by Catherine Shannon

I am going to write anyway, by Nadia Meli

the dark side of "track your package" culture, by Viv Chen

Look At Me! No, Don’t, by Madison Huizinga

Notes On: July Recap, Reclaiming Brainrot, Kamala’s Coconut Trees, A FeminoNOTinon (How Katy Perry Missed the Mark), The Aestheticization of Lit Girls, and a Plea for Nuance, by Hannah Connolly