Sniffing Out the Social Media Lies

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to this week's episode of Sniffing Out to the Bullshit. Today, I'm going to be talking all about some of my favorite pieces of bullshit that I've seen on social media. Now, social is full of it, all the time and everywhere. And I swear, every social media channel is terrible. And there's not even one that's immune to it. Back in the day, LinkedIn was at least the professional network. And people would be sharing pieces of thought leadership. It'd be about getting jobs. It's about showing up and being professional. Nope, not anymore. Now, LinkedIn has got so much bullshit on there as well. So unfortunately, it's just as bad as some of the other channels. But I'm going to be looking at some pieces of bullshit across the spectrum today. And I've picked out some of my favorites. And why have I done this? Well, frankly, I know so many people at the moment who are so sick of social media. They spend time on there, and all it makes them feel is crap about themselves. They are looking at other people's lies and fake posts, and they're comparing it to themselves, and they just feel rubbish. So if you're sitting there thinking, so-and-so's life looks better than mine, and we're the same age, or in fact, they're younger, and they've achieved so much more, and you're one of these people who just naturally compares yourself to others, don't get me wrong, I do this all the time, everyone does it, but social media draws you in and then makes you feel crap about yourself. So I'm going to pick a bunch of things that I've noticed on social that I've totally fallen for and have made me feel like crap, and I'm just going to expose what the actual truth is with a lot of these people. And for you to kind of have some things that you can go away with and you could check the legitimacy of half of these posts. So where should I start? Let's start with, I guess, the people who spend most of their time bragging about how successful they are on social media. So whether that's, you know, people taking pictures in front of like lambos or with their full set of designer handbags and, you know, how much money they've got, you know, screenshotting, like, you know, orders coming through for their courses. And, you know, all the metrics that they've been doing this. There are endless, endless things that people are doing to pretend that they are super successful. So let's take some of the classics that I've seen.

Now, have you ever seen someone post a picture on their private jet or in front of a private jet and, you know, showing their swanky lifestyle and how they started a business in their bedroom or their garage and now look at them, they're taking private jets everywhere? Well, most of these people are full of it. Did you know you can actually rent out a private jet for a half an hour just to take photos? And that's what most of these people do. They literally rent out a jet, get their film crew down, and just maximize that half hour slot so that it looks like they've got footage. They bring a bunch of change of clothes so they can post it every time they feel like they're about to go away. And, you know, maybe they do do it just before they actually do go to another country so it looks legit. But, you know, they'll do all their photoshoot on a private jet. They'll post that on social media, and then they get on their Ryanair flight that they paid $12.99 for. So this is the reality of it. And, you know, most of these people are chatting absolute bollocks. And it's just crazy. They're like absolute renting of a jet. It's nuts. And the designer handbag thing also is quite funny because, you know, I love my designer handbags. Don't get me wrong, I have a ton myself, but I have definitely overpaid for all of those and racked up a healthy credit card bill that I've had to pay off in order to pay for them. Not sensible, but, you know, when you kind of have expensive-tasting fashion, that's what you got to do. And then you got to work your butt off to be able to afford to pay all that off. But there are some people who don't even want to actually try and work in order to be able to afford those nice things. Instead, they just get fake handbags. And so many influencers have been called out on this now because some of the really avid people who have been following have been watching and be like, well, that's actually fake. And they point out stuff that's fake. And so lots and lots of influencers have now been caught out that actually they have fake handbags. So you think that someone has a gorgeous, gorgeous, high-end designer wardrobe, look really carefully. Now, a couple of those things might be real. You could totally have a couple of those things, but sometimes, and this has even been announced by celebrities, celebrities have even said that they have their

very, very expensive bags, but then they have a replica version of that bag that they can take out and destroy. Because if you've got a two and a half grand handbag and you are gonna go somewhere that you might wreck it, then it's not worth the risk for most people. So this is what they do. So again, take a look and take with a pinch of salt when you see people bragging about their entire handbag collection. They could just be fake. And in fact, there are now even again rental services. So if you really do wanna get your hands on some nice handbags and you see some people basically getting like a fancy high-end designer bag like every couple of months, they might be on one of those rental schemes. There are rental schemes out there which you can basically hire a bag for like 60 days, 30 days, try it out, return it, and then get another one in return. And so this is a good way of obviously, you know, for some people also, it's a genuine way of trying out high-end fashion, seeing if you like it, seeing which ones are good, and then before buying it yourself. But some people do it purely for Instagram content, and that is kind of crazy. And then what about the money? I guess, you know, there are people, it makes me sick, seeing the ones who just like have photos of their bank accounts and, oh, it's cringe. And I see even with people who are trying to fake results, you know, there's a lot of people on Instagram, for example, claiming to be Instagram gurus, and that's what they do. And so they're faking results and they're photoshopping results. And they are essentially taking screenshots from someone else and putting on their own profile and being like, these are the results that I got from my clients. And actually they didn't, they just took a screenshot online. So people are signing up to their services and it's the whole fake it to you make it thing. They don't have any results. They don't have any good clients. But what they're doing, they're pretending that they do until they land clients. And they eventually do get money and see success this way, but you've got to check for it. So my advice is, especially if you're going to be, you know, hiring any of these people, because everyone claims to be an expert these days, you see this on LinkedIn as well. People are claiming that they know X, Y, Z, but actually if you look at them, they've never done any of that.

So how these Instagram experts, who are claiming that they are, you know, marketing gurus who've been around for ages, they've got no experience. They don't have any marketing qualifications. They don't even have any like, you know, actual marketing background. They've run their own social media account, and they think that means they're an expert. So, you know, they're trying to take clients in from all different sectors when it's completely different. For example, B2C and B2B have completely different marketing strategies, but that does not matter to them. So, what I would say is don't just trust what other people say. Actually check for proof. So, do a quick Google search. See what comes back. Obviously, ignore their social channels. See what other people are saying about them. See if they've actually got genuine press out there from external writers. Not press that they've submitted themselves with a press release. Again, that's another thing they could do. Check what's about them. Check company's house or your country's equivalent, which means looking up their business online. You could do that. You could see what sort of filings they have, what sort of money they're making, and see if it tallies up with what they're saying. I mean, just do a bit of checks. I mean, that is absolutely fine to do that. That's what I would do, especially before handing over money to anyone that you think you're not 100% sure about, because they could just take your money and run, and you don't know. So that's definitely one of my favorite set of lies I've seen. The other one is people who are always seem to be on holiday. And actually, like every week, maybe not every week, but it feels like that, every couple of weeks at least, or every month at least, they are on social claiming that they're in another country. And I've even seen ones who's claiming that they've bought a place in another country, but basically it's just an Airbnb that they keep going to. And some of them are literally Photoshopped pictures. And there was that influencer. I don't know if people were following her, but she was a travel blogger. And then they started to recognize that she was taking pictures with looking out of her window, admiring the view. And there was one, I think she was in New York, and suddenly then was like, aren't those the Twin Towers? Didn't they get knocked down a decade ago? And people were calling out loads of this sort of stuff, and they realized it was just bullshit.

She was photoshopping so many different things, and this happens all the time. You see people basically claiming that they're abroad, and they've done all these things, but actually they're just using stock images and stock videos. And Coachella's on at the moment, and I've seen, I think a few years ago, one of the influencers photoshopped herself into Coachella in order to prove how fake it all is. So don't believe that sort of stuff. Again, people are not abroad all the time. They are lying. And you can totally reverse image search some of their stuff. And if you keep seeing the same sort of thing, then check. Because actually what people do now is they nick content from other influencers or other big people. So for example, I'm not a Coachella. I'm sitting right now at my home, my flat in London. But I could totally take someone's Coachella videos from Instagram Reels or TikTok and post them on my own socials and be like, oh my god, it's lit. And that's what people do. And you have no idea. So they are trying to make out that they've got this lifestyle that they don't have. So you've got to realize that half this stuff is so easy to fake. And it's the whole thing as well with those who are now doing vlogging. Their daily vlog. And it always seems to be the same routine with every single person. They get up, they make their little matcha, they put on their little gym outfits, they drop on the bed, they go do a workout. It's like 6 a.m., apparently. They're all showering with like Aesop soap and they're all having the same products and they all have their perfect figure. They all have their ideal breakfast. It's all healthy. And they seem to do this every morning. But if you look closely at everyone of their vlogs, it's the same footage. It's the exact same footage. They haven't created this new reel every single day. Of course not. They're doing the same thing on every day, but half the time, they could still be in bed. So don't think that every morning, you're seeing your favorite influencer who's working out and feel guilty because you're having a lie in one day. That's fine. Half these people are also having a lie in, but they're probably pre-scheduled this content like a month in advance. And all you got to do is, and there have been loads of them, all you have to do is record a month of content in one day and then schedule it. And then you could just sleep in for the rest of the month, honestly.

And I've actually seen this live as well, where all the ones who are preaching that they are out and they have these amazing figures, but yet they eat what they want. I've seen them go into stores, order something trendy that they'll go in, and they'll order even a restaurant. They've ordered a giant burger and chips, and they're posing with it, they're pretending to eat it. And they've gone into ice cream stores, had the really aesthetic ice cream, and then taken all the videos and footage with it, and then immediately thrown it in the bin. So again, you're probably sitting there thinking, oh my god, she eats all that stuff and stays in that shape. No, she doesn't. I've seen these people literally take pictures of them and throw the food away. Now, not only is that disgusting for the environment and for everything, they're just wasting food, but it's making everyone else feel so bad about themselves. So please, please stop comparing yourself to these people because there were so many tricks to the trade and it's just making people feel like crap. And I'm scrolling through LinkedIn each day. I'm quite active on there, and I'm starting to get really fed up of all the people on there who are now offering their services and turning up. Like I said, LinkedIn was this once professional platform and people are turning up now claiming to be an expert in everything. And they are sending the services to people believing them. And it definitely works if you're an attractive female and you post a few sort of provocative and sexy photos, you'll get a bunch of people following you. But all you need to do is show up every single day. And now people are just getting like AI generated content as well to churn out the content for them. There's also like tools which let you emulate your favorite creator. And if you want to be like someone, you can get AI to write copy just like that, and you can schedule all your posts. And they're showing up every day and then doing that. But there's no proof that they can actually do it. And so people are believing them and getting them to do their services for them, but they actually don't know what they're doing. And so you've got to check, because it's so easy to say, oh, I created a seven-figure business in these three easy steps. Did you? Did you really do that? Or it's like, I sent out one tweet and got 25,000 pounds worth of business. How do you know? How do you know that tweet did actually do that?

And where's the proof? They don't back it up with any substantial evidence. Have a look. And I question stuff all the time in order to see which ones are legit and which ones aren't, because the legitimate ones can be like, oh, actually, I will show you the evidence. And there are a lot of really great, amazing creators out there who are legitimately doing some fantastic things and offering great services. But the moment you say, oh, actually, how is that done? They'll be able to answer you. They'll be able to provide you with proof and case studies and data and everything. But the ones who don't or just ghost your story, ghost your replies and come up with stories and just have really generic content are the ones you need to worry about. So just watch out for that. And there's so many people just plagiarizing other people's content as well. So just watch out for that. And I'd say, what's my last one? I feel like the last one I've got to say is the toxic positivity because it really riles me up. Now, I feel like in general, I am actually a positive person. Like most people who know me are always like, oh, you're really happy, you're always spreading joy, and generally looking mood. But I'm a realist at the end of the day. So like this podcast, I am calling people out on their bullshit. But the ones that I really, really can't deal with are the ones who just have this toxic positivity. And what I mean by that is that save someone's going through something, they will still try and spin into something positive. And they'll just be like, oh, hard day, don't worry. It's all good. Life is nothing but this. And they come up with all this stupid, cliche, positive comments. And it just really riles everyone up. And it's not healthy because other people who are feeling genuinely bad about themselves are actually looking for some help and some, you know, genuine advice to try and get them through this tough situation. But instead, people are actually just giving them some, like, generic positive comment, and it just makes them feel crap. So they believe that, I guess, no matter how bad things are, you should always maintain a positive mindset. I agree with that to some extent. Like, you know, you have to try and see the good in things. And for me, that's about reframing. I think that's a much more healthy thing to do. So when something bad happens, you reframe the situation to find the good things in it.

Don't just say it's good, because if you just say everything's positive and, you know, recite positive quotes when you're in a difficult situation, you're just going to hide all the emotions that you're going through and suppress them. You'll end up feeling sad and depressed later. You're dismissing other people's actual difficult feelings, and you're actually just ignoring all the problems that you genuinely have. So it's much healthier to actually own up to this. And I see this all the time on social media. So if someone says, you know, they've just lost their job, or something, it's okay, look on the bright side, just say positive and all these sort of things. That's not helping anyone. In fact, that's just making people feel like crap. So the next time, I guess, you feel like you want to offer a helping hand, obviously, definitely be there for people. Be positive, don't be depressing. But, you know, don't just say positive stuff for the sake of it, and don't fill your social media profile with positive, inspirational quotes and completely ignoring the time that we're going through. It's a cost of living crisis, and don't be like, you know, sending all these quotes about money and all this sort of stuff. So if people want to express a certain feeling that they're feeling down, be there for them. But, you know, you can help reframe the situation and offer some positive advice. That's all I'm saying. So for me today, I have been reflecting on the crap that's on social media. Now, I know a lot of people feeling a bit negative about social media at the moment, and I totally have. It's been hard, because with all of this bullshit out there, it's really tough to scroll through and not kind of resent the content, resent the people posting it, and feeling a bit crappy about your own life. So, I guess I'm going to end with a few pieces of advice that I've done that helped. Obviously, it's not going to help everyone. Not everyone's the same, but the few things that I've done, I've now deleted all notifications for social media on my phone, which means if I want to check the social media profiles, I have to actively go on them. So, I know that I'm not kind of being bombarded with all of this in my face instantly, millions of times a day. So, actually, I'm in a controlled environment when I'm actually checking this. I have also washed out a lot of my profiles.

I'm still doing it. I am trying to cleanse all my profiles and only follow people who have something meaningful to say. So, anytime I see a post that I'm like, oh, I don't like your tone, I think you're full of shit, I basically unfollow them. And so, I try to curate my feed with people that actually lift me up and are there for me, and they actually are sharing something genuine. Now, just have a look at some of the stuff that you're following and just think, what value does it genuinely provide in your life? You know, are you following them because you thought they were an expert, but actually have a look at what they're sharing? Is any of it genuinely meaningful and they have a personal spin to the generic stuff, or is this stuff that you can just get from writing something into chat GBT, or you know, you can just quickly Google it and you see a million people saying the same things. Have a think. Are you genuinely getting something out of these people? And if not, just unfollow them. It's fine to do that. Cleanse your social media. If I could, I would unfollow every single person and restart. But obviously, due to the silly algorithms, I'd get penalized, I couldn't do that. But you know, that's why I've had to start new profiles. And that's why I've got separate profiles now for my podcasts and things like that, because I want to follow different people with a different hat on sometimes. And you know, I'll be in a different mindset. And that's okay. And I think you have to realize that not everyone is legitimate on social media. And if you do find yourself comparing yourself to other people, that's totally natural to do that. But if you do find yourself doing that, then really, really have a think. And if you start to kind of spiral and think all the negative things, and you start getting a bit of imposter syndrome about yourself, start actually looking at what they've really done and start seeing the legitimacy of it. And if there are people who are legitimately amazing and have done all these incredible things, and you're thinking, wow, I wish I could be more like them, then start looking up to them for inspiration. Start actually analyzing their posts and think, right, how could you be more like them? What do you need to do? What are some of the positive things that you can take action with? What are some of the books that you can read? What are some of the courses you can take? Why don't you reach out to them and ask them for mentoring?

There are some crazy good people out there who are so successful and actually are willing to give back and share their knowledge. Those are the people that you need around you. So this is today's episode on sniffing out the bullshit. And I've definitely called a lot of people out today. If you've got any other recommendations, then please feel free to hit me up on social media where I'll obviously try not to succumb to any of the other crap out there. But if you like this content and you want to hear more of it, then please do subscribe. And I will see everyone else next week.