I want to preface this post by saying I usually don’t post with an extremely negative tone. Yes, I may write about a subject that I am passionate about – such as equality with education. But rarely do I target a select group of folks. But I am – for a rare instance. I will try to end it on a positive note. Thank you for reading my rant.

Today was one of those days. The kind where you keep shaking your head and reciting aloud, ” I don’t get it!” What is it that has me in such a tizzy? Simply stated, I don’t get why people create fake social media accounts, including ones using my likeness. Truly, it defies any definition or intent of this medium – SOCIAL and/or MEDIA.

Fake accounts are like the Rorschach® test of the digital age – exposing the current mental health status and values of the account holder perhaps. Need to make yourself feel important? Seems that is a reason to start a fake account. Want to snoop, troll, or indulge in other behaviors that you know are not “kosher”? Yep, go ahead and create an account with a fake persona or steal someone else’s. And, then there are people who seem to have a zillion “likes” on a benign post. That is when I go into detective mode and more times than not figure out that all these LIKES are really by fake/imposter accounts for the sole purpose of self-promoting. (Alexa– play You’re So Vain by Carly Simon)

Here is what makes me giggle. Does the person creating these fake accounts really think they are outsmarting, outwitting, or getting to the top of the influencer food chain by populating “trash” across an assortment of timelines? Don’t these people know that in due time people who are smarter, more clever, and have better digital analytic tools will uncover their game of “let’s pretend”? And that’s where it gets ugly. Because those who trusted them believed they were “super cool”, or thought they were a respected and reliable source to promote brands will walk away and cancel this person when the truth is exposed. Ouch!

So think twice or maybe a dozen times before you make an account with a celebrities’ likeness, or a “borrowed” a photo that is “a headshot (not)”, stolen content from someone who has their life more together than you, or post body parts we don’t need to see. And I am curious – what is the “end game” suppose to be here? Because when the truth unfolds – and it always does- there will be nothing but negative energy and zip in the bank account that was actually respectfully earned.

Most of all you probably are hurting someone or many people with this behavior and that is simply unacceptable. We are talking about real people, real lives, and the chance that someone could be hurt or worse.

Oh, and it is more than likely that what you are doing is an infraction of social media website “terms of agreement”. You know the thing you bypassed before you pressed the “Make my Account” button. It is only a matter of time before your fake and real accounts are suspended. So enjoy the “Magic Kingdom” while you can. You aren’t fooling anyone – but yourself.

Here are just some imposter / fake accounts using my name and/or image on TikTok. Just one issue- I closed my actual TikTok account a long time ago. Geez – the idiots (or computer) who set up these accounts could have picked better pics or spelled my name correctly! And yes, I do recognize that a fair number of “make believe accounts” are generated by some computer that speaks in code. But, someone has to be programming this computer- right??

If this blog is hitting too close to home – it is not too late to change your ways. Delete the fakes and let people see only the real you. Better yet. Put down the phone and go outside. Engage in real conversation. Unplug.

And… for those of us who are more than a little tired of the fakeness that surrounds us in social media just remember there is a BLOCK button and a REPORT feature on every social media platform.

Thanks for reading my tirade. I feel better now. Time for me to unplug, maybe for a good long while, and create something that is offline – Hmmm… I wonder what color I will paint my newest furniture project?