Lying in 2018

Lying in 2018, it's a risky business. Everyone's watching. So why do I still see people do it? Over the last few years I've noticed the not-so-subtle increase of people I know IRL lying on the internet, probably due to everyone feeling the pressure of the importance of social media and online profiles. Not small embellishments, either. Full-blown counterfeiting of imagery, all the way through to bios published about them with completely inaccurate representations of who they are as people and their lives and experiences.

On one hand, you could make a point of saying that anyone has the right to sell themselves online no matter how stretched the truth is. That it's their choice to articulate their online persona and promote themselves as best they can, even if they are making false claims about ownership of work and imagery. On the other hand, you could say their reputation, persona and the facade that is their online existence is propped up on false claims and they should be called out. It seems like 2017 was the year of calling people out for being liars, or at least exposing terrible things that had been swept under the rug in industries such as entertainment, social media and global politics. Perhaps a wannabe Instagram model posting images that aren't actually her with misleading descriptions to insinuate they are, should not be compared to exposing a sexual abuser. They're on a spectrum, but both involve inappropriate behaviour and deceiving people.

Perhaps I shouldn't care about someone pretending they've got more professional experience than they do and thinking they can throw money at their problems and profile in an attempt to elevate their social reputation above what they truly deserve. But I do. I do, because I have worked hard to get where I am and have not purchased my professional success. I'm still paying back my student loans myself. I wasn't handed anything. I didn't lie to get any of my jobs. Neither have my best and closest friends, neither have my colleagues. And we see you. We see through what you're doing and not only are we disgusted, we are ashamed that you think you can get away with this. This is not just about one person, there are several of you and I am not going to name and shame. But should any of these people read this, I'd like to think they can recognise what they are doing is honestly so silly. 

Making false claims on the internet about your education and experience in 2018 is like poorly airbrushing a photo of yourself, printing it out and going to a model casting, holding it in front of your face. If you get that job, you don't deserve it.

If it were 1918, you'd just be a criminal with a falsely scribed resume. Maybe no one would call your references and discover your deceit.

How can anyone think that they can get away with lying on the internet in 2018? Celebrities have realised they can't lie about their age - someone's going to dig up their year-book photo and pop it on tumblr or wikipedia. If you were born before 1980, you might be able to get away with not having your teenage photos stocked permanently in google images, pulled from MySpace or Bebo. Lucky you.

Kids born in the last decade need to understand that they won't be able to lie, not even a little bit. Their entire lives will be traceable. It's a little scary to think about, really. So why does someone who falls in between both of these scenarios think they're so clever? The only explanations are:
a) they really do think it's ok and they haven't done anything wrong
b) they have a complete disregard for the truth and they simply don't care
c) they've somehow lied so much they now believe it to be true

I don't know what else to say except that building your life upon lies must be exhausting and I don't envy you. Good luck with it.