It can be tempting to tell lies on social media to get attention. Lots of people are on social media, and a lot of them are getting a ton of traction just by making big claims about what they have seen or done. Things are slowly changing, but back in the day it used to be really easy to blow up on TikTok. A lot of people made their names telling lies on that platform. So should you lie to get traction on social media? Probably not, in my opinion. Here’s why.
It’s possible to grow fast on social media
All you need to do is go viral. But it’s not all that easy. In order to go viral, you need to have good content. Good content means whatever attracts and holds attention. This makes that in the absence of good material, the best way to market a product or service is to tell a story and just lie.
Big claims do well
The bigger your claim in today’s age, the better you will do online. This is true most of the time. The only exception is when the claim is badly presented. If a claim is big and easy to understand, you’re in the money when it comes to getting a lot of attention.
How well do other people know you?
If a lot of people know you and your story, it’s going to be tough to get traction telling lies. There’s going to be too much contradiction, and you’re going to struggle to maintain your truth. If people know you well, it’s best not to tell any lies at all unless the people in your inner circle know you’re playing a character.
Are you lying about other people?
If you’re telling lies about other people, you’re probably going to find yourself in some trouble if it can be all put together. This is why it’s best to keep lies vague. This is also why you shouldn’t believe vague stories on social media.
Keep names anonymous
If you’re going to lie about other people, you should make sure to keep their names anonymous. If you do this, you at least keep the beef internal if there is any, and you can avoid a lawsuit.
Whatever you do, build a real brand
You’re going to want to put in the time that it takes to build something that actually makes you money, you should spend that time building a real brand. If you build a real brand around well-crafted lies, it could possibly work. But I’m not sure why you would want to do all of that extra work.
Friends matter the most
Whatever you do, whether it’s lie or tell the truth, realize that you’re only going to want friends and family around you as you grow older. So, whatever you do, make sure your lies only burn the bridges you truly want to burn. Money isn’t that important as you get older.
Lying on social media for clout is tempting, but it has diminishing returns unless it’s a well-crafted lie. Even when the lie is well crafted the returns are diminishing, because you have to spend some time maintaining your lie. Instead, it’s better to just follow the money. Pick a niche that is lucrative and that you think you’ll be able to monetize. Become an expert in that niche, while also becoming an expert in social media. That should have a far greater payoff than telling lies to get a bit of traction.
Thanks for paying attention.
