What your Social Media posts and comments say about you.

Let’s agree that we have all become a bunch of internet addicts. If we are not religiously checking on our favourite social media platforms (WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram etc) every 15 minutes or catching up on the latest entertainment news, we are looking for love, new clothes or hilarious cat GIFs online. 

But did you know that every time you post to social media you reveal so much about yourself than you actually realise?

The internet isn't just changing our view of the world, but also how the world views us too. You can tell a lot about a person just by what they decide to share on their social media accounts.

In so many ways, our status updates say a lot about our personality. What you choose to share on social media reflects a lot about what kind of person you would like to create online and different types of status updates suggest different personality traits.

These posts show whether the user wanted attention and acceptance, an outlet for self-expression or the ability to communicate information on their channel or webpage.

One other thing that is also evident in our posts and comments is that they expose our levels of education and in essence can tell if one was a dump head in class.

God forbid you disagree with someone on the internet or have a stance that opposes theirs. It’s at that point, out moves the semi-intelligent and constructive conversation and in moves the cowardly go to low hanging fruit. 

Exposing your frustrations through your tone.

Further still, your social media presence could suggest whether you are contended with life or are depressed.  Your posts and comments if well analysed, do send signals of what exactly is transpiring in your own life.

People can get a sense of your personality and how you treat others by the way that you phrased your comments. Are you kind and positive or rude and demeaning when you comment?

These are the kind that scour the internet for anything they can leave a mean or insulting comment on, primarily and presumably because of how they feel about themselves as people. They hate themselves so much they can’t help but project it onto others. Especially if the person whose content they are commenting on is doing the thing they wish they were doing but are too afraid to actually try.

Majority of those who send very offensive and negative posts or comments betray their inner suffering and expose how life is quite hard on them, thus they tend to vent their anger and frustrations to the rest of the people whom they feel that aren’t going through the difficult times as the do.

What they feed off of is trying to make us feel as bad about ourselves as they do.

You reveal your values.

Whatever you post or comment can give a stranger a glimpse into what you fundamentally believe in. Though it is usually okay in a private account, if you are posting very opinionated articles on social media, you may push away possible job opportunities or potential relationships.

Based on your comments, a viewer can learn a lot about your beliefs and values. People can tell what you find entertaining and what you find frustrating. For instance, if you are the kind of person who glorifies crime (whichever the kind), comments to the affirmative in cases of violence or openly speaks ill or disrespect leaders or your seniors, one is able to pick the kind of character you are even before meeting you physically.

Wanting to be popular.

Most people, especially those in their teens and in their early 20s (and more so the ladies), want to be very popular and so, they are very conscious of the likes they are getting. This is the reason why they will delete photos that don’t get enough likes or pull down posts that ignite too much negative reactions.

Teenagers tend to interact with more photos than adults but they also seem to post fewer photos themselves.

Adults tend to post photos with more diverse topics in mind, while teens mostly post photos that reflect their mood. 

Posts about social activities, life and achievements usually receive the most likes and comments as compared to those about deep thoughts and intellectual ideas which usually attract very few reactions. 

Most people want to congratulate someone on an achievement or connect with them socially but will shy away from debates and deep topics.

Mr. & Miss “Selfies”.

Those who post selfies because they are satisfied with the way they look tend to run the risk of negatively affecting their relationships with others. Sharing pictures of yourself in various stages of dress, or undress, can result in significant threats to your future relationship and career opportunities.

Narcissists also wrote more status updates about their diet and exercise routine, suggesting that they use social media to broadcast the effort they put into their physical appearance

It turns out that just as you are more likely to share things that make you happy, your down days can become pretty evident on social media too. 

Posting too much about your “bae”.

Everyone knows that one person on Facebook who spouts endless chat about their “bae” and how they have got “all the feels”, right?

Posting too much about your relationship is an indicator of your insecurity. Profound and repeated declarations of love don't show how happy one is, but instead highlight their not-so-hidden insecurities. Those who drop endless L-bombs and cutesy pictures are actually fighting off low self-esteem, insecurities within their relationship and their own ability to make their partner happy.

People are more likely to post relationship-relevant information on Facebook on days when they feel insecure. It is reasonable to surmise that people with low self-esteem update about their partner as a way of laying claim to their relationship when it feels threatened.

Single and searching.

Being single and ready to digitally mingle can offer plenty of teasing insight, including whether you are a little bit desperate or even embarrassed to be using online dating in the first place.

Oversharing photos on your profile is a sign of desperation. On the contrary, being standoffish is a sign you feel like online dating is a last resort.

Filling your dating profile with comments like "My life's great. I just need someone to share it with," is a sign of online reluctance. Apparently it's an over-compensating way of saying, "I'm not desperate, I'm not needy, I'm not lonely. I'm a very happy, full person," and that "being on here does not mean that I have deficits as a person."

High/low self-esteem. 

People who have lower self-esteem have a tendency to post updates about their romantic relationship “as a way of laying claim to their relationship when it feels threatened.” Narcissists on the other hand enjoy posting status updates about achievements in order to receive validation, which proves “consistent with narcissists’ tendency to boast in order to gain attention.”

Extroverts generally post more about social activities and everyday life as a way of connecting with others. They usually enjoy new experiences and have an open mind generally and will generally use social media to share intellectual ideas and post their opinions about topics in order to share information.

People high in conscientiousness write more frequently about their children to communicate and share information, perhaps in an indirect form of competitive parenting.

Neurotic people have a tendency to post updates for validation and to seek the attention and support that they lack offline.

Getting into political rants.

It is okay to promote what you believe in and stand up for your values, but when you get to the point of screaming, you probably need to take a breath and consider another way to contribute to the world, offline.

Name calling and speaking in a condescending manner to those who have different political beliefs than your own can ostracize friends (even ones who agree with you). It is one thing to be passionate about your beliefs but it is another thing to be rude. It is also important to remember that diversity is everywhere, whether you like it or not. Not everyone is going to think the same way as you and you’re not going to change that.

Perpetual liars.

These are the people who always post to paint a picture that their lives are perfect. 

Everyone has struggles, and it’s often comforting to know your friends also had a bad day at work, quarreled with their partner, spilled coffee down their shirt, or didn’t lose those last five pounds as planned.

You are always posting the things you are doing right, the things that are being done for you and all the ways your life is amazing, just to paint a picture of how wonderful you and your life are, when it is probably as average as the rest of ours.

Even if you’re rockin’ it at your job, in a loving, fulfilling relationship and your friend group is basically #goals, everyone has days where they feel like they’re being rained on, with no umbrella in sight.

This is something that comes up a lot in therapy. People tell me how great everyone else is doing based on what they post on social media, and I have to explain they are only posting the good, and not the whole reality of their lives.

Being a sad sack.

If you find yourself complaining, moaning, and using that hysterical emoji more often than you are posting about the good stuff in your life, you might be signaling to others that you’re borderline depressed.

Posting things like ‘ugh, I hate Monday’ or ‘of course this would happen to me…’, tell the world that you are not a happy person. There is enough negativity in our world, and while there may have been five bad things that happened to you that day, there were also probably five good things.

Choose to post those and focus on those—or at least do half and half. Doing so will change your social media feed and your outlook on life.