How to be Authentic on the Internet

Written collaboratively with Cheryl Douglass

Everyone on the internet knows that being active on social media is valuable, but a lot of people struggle to play the game. The real challenge isn’t about posting consistently – anyone can throw random thoughts out there – it’s more about how to find a genuine voice that offers a fresh point of view (and doesn’t come across as cringe or forced). This can feel like a hard problem for people to solve, but the answer basically comes down to one word: authenticity.

Now, authenticity can feel like a blah word/concept because it’s overused, so let’s get a bit more specific here. Authenticity doesn’t mean sharing everything in your life, unfiltered. What it does mean is thinking for yourself, having a clear voice and point of view, and being consistent in how you engage with others over time. Often the best and most widely loved accounts are just people who share their thoughts publicly and honestly about things that matter to them.

What we'd like do with this essay is talk to people who want to be more active in this way on any social network, whether you’re starting from scratch or trying to resurrect an old account. The game plan is to riff on some concrete suggestions that we’ve found helpful, both for ourselves and in working with founders at Seed Club. We’ll also cover two quick case studies.

Start where you are. The best way to start being active on the internet is to talk about things that you’re already doing or thinking about. If you’re a founder, talk about the founder's journey. If you’re an artist, talk about the creative process. If you’re an investor, talk about interesting opportunities in the market. And so on. Share process, not just outcomes.

Experiment. It takes time to figure out your voice, sense of humor, best content formats etc. If you just show up and try, that puts you in a small group of people who are actually active, and there’s so much to learn in doing that. A lot of getting comfortable on social media just comes down to reps.

Embrace your quirks. You’re special. Believe it. The best accounts out there double down on the weird things that make them who they are, and they naturally filter their ideas through their unique way of being in the world. Quirks are a superpower.

Define your core principles. What do you stand for? What are your values? What do you want people to think of when they see your username and pfp on the timeline? Answers to these questions help inform how, where, and when you engage.

Focus on a niche. Interact with people who are doing things that you think are cool. Make lists, be specific, and focus on a couple particular areas to start. Whether it’s fashion or derivatives trading or whatever else… it’s better to start by being deeply knowledgeable about a couple of categories than superficially trying to engage with everything out there.

Adapt to platform context. Instagram, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, Farcaster, Lens etc. all have different norms. How you engage in each domain should take that into account. “Local” knowledge and vibes matter, and your voice and content should change a bit in each place accordingly.

Be human. Engage with people. Post stuff but be willing to be wrong publicly. Pay attention to the conversations and themes that are getting talked about, then engage. It’s much more natural to participate in The Current Thing than just randomly posting.

To make all of this more real, let’s look at two case studies for some inspiration. One on the personal account side and another on the brand account side.

Personal Case Study: Winny

Winny has crafted a cool personal brand across multiple platforms. Her content covers fashion, tech, crypto, travel, lifestyle brands and other themes. Her tone is casual, irreverent, and playful – it’s like having a conversation with a friend. She founded a company called Chipped which sells NFC-embedded nails as both a beauty accessory and a tool for digital and social interactions. She has helped grow the brand massively through her own content.

What sets Winny's approach apart is her commitment to genuine vulnerability. She isn't afraid to show the struggles that come from entrepreneurship alongside the wins, and this creates a relatable narrative that resonates with her audience. Her content strategy emphasizes personal expression and lifestyle, speaking directly to an audience of millennials and zoomers that value authenticity. She uses a mix of product showcases, behind-the-scenes content, founder journey moments, user generated content, celebrity collaborations and more, all filtered through her personal voice, which makes people connect and align with Chipped in a way that makes it feel more like a movement than a product.

Brand Case Study: Duolingo

Brand accounts are a slightly different conversation than personal accounts, but Duolingo is a fun and instructive example to call out regardless. That team really cracked the code.

In short, the Duolingo social strategy combines deliberate chaos with platform fluency while having a consistent brand everywhere their owl character goes. Duo’s unhinged personality is carefully calibrated absurdity that resonates with Gen Z humor while staying true to the company’s core mission of making it fun to learn languages. And the team doesn’t just post content, they really speak the native language of each platform: TikTok gets chaotic skits, LinkedIn gets growth metrics, X gets snappy comebacks etc. This enthusiastic, slightly threatening, simp of an owl has created a lot of attention and brand value for the company across a wide variety of content.

In closing here, whether you're an individual creator like Winny or a brand like Duolingo, the most compelling online presences have a liveness to them. They feel real. In an era of infinite content, we get hit with endless slop… so to stand out you have to press into the perspectives and quirks that make you unique. The most magnetic accounts don't try to be everything to everyone, they choose depth over breadth and originality over optimizing for algorithms. It’s a game of authenticity + consistency + time.