I’m guessing there’s a fancy psychological term for it, but I’m just going to borrow a phrase that I like: “persona engineering“.
This is the term I use for people who spice up their social media pages with photos and activities and uplifting quotes, yet they really don’t represent the person’s true life or experiences.
However, when shown in small bunches or small samples it can become your entire personality when that’s all people see from you. The other 23 hours and 58 minutes of the day could be a complete shit show, but if you post one photo of you in a field of wildflowers and the sunset in the background, you’re building a persona of an artsy, care-free, “all-is-good” person.
We know this isn’t the case for everyone.
You just never know what’s really going on inside someone’s head. As we rely more and more on social media to stay in touch with people, we have become more informed with what people are and where people are, but much less so on how people are.
A lot of people are struggling out there. I’m not a psychiatrist or psychologist so I can’t tell you what all the hidden signs are, but that info is just a Google search away.
Don’t get played by the people who matter to you.
I think we all have strides to make in this regard.