Social media platforms, and the way we use them, aren’t designed for showing our authentic selves.

Why Everyone and Everything on Social Media Is Fake

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Social media — the first mass medium to allow people to publicly share their thoughts, feelings and lives with others — has become dangerously inauthentic. From cries of “fake news” to the rise of bots, bogus followers and other trolls, it’s hard to know whom, what or where to trust.

To even begin to remedy social media’s problem with inauthenticity, we have to first resist the urge to believe that better, more secure technology will fix the problem. While tech is a symptom of the bigger issue, it’s not the underlying cause.

Here’s what’s really ailing social media.

Everyone on social media is infected with the same problem: The very nature of it causes all of us to be fake.

So, while we can share the delectable stack of pancakes we had for breakfast, the highlights of last night’s party, our feet poolside on vacation and of course, our “likes” and laments, all we’re sharing is a simple chronicle. One that with the right filter and snappy status update can project an image of a life far better than the one we authentically experience.

The evidence that manufactured projections are the bigger problem is supported by the countless studies correlating teenage depression and anxiety with heavy social media use.

Related: 12 Social Media Mistakes That Entrepreneurs Make

A spoonful of narrative will help.

The most widely used social network, Facebook, with over 1.4 billion active daily users, currently doesn’t support deeper interactions that reflect more naturally occurring conversations. And it’s also missing another important component: storytelling.

Narrative is the sinew of life; it gives context and depth to the information we share. It’s also the lifeblood of authentic connections. Without it, it’s impossible to turn data and description into meaning.

Once you can pull narrative into a social media context, others can then truly become a part of your story. Which brings up another current limitation of social platforms that has actually supported our vulnerability to inauthenticity. Choosing “friends” based on the assumption that they’re like-minded is self-limiting, yet social platforms tend to make recommendations based on your set of interests and “likes.” Varied points of view energize the juiciness of storytelling by challenging…