When we run workshops, we ask participants to take part in a social experiment.

We ask each attendee to take out their smartphone, open up their social app of choice then hand their phone to their neighbour (typically a stranger).

At this point, we haven’t even asked participants to do anything with their neighbours’ social app.

You can imagine what happens next.

The simple act of handing over one’s account leads to…

Fear. Panic. Anxiety.

In particular, the younger the audience (especially Gen C), the more visceral the response.

[bctt tweet=”If something happens to our digital self, its almost as if its happening to our real self.”]

What’s happening here is our digital ‘self’, is becoming so close to our real self, that if something happens to our digital self, its as if its happening to our real self.

And everyday that tech advances (consider the leap Periscope represents over Twitter), the more real our digital self becomes.

The good news is that this isn’t just true in the negative – its also true in the positive.

If you can share peace, love, hope, faith, joy, <insert your awesome sauce> to our digital self, we’re getting to a point where its as if you shared this with us in real life.

How do your followers feel about your brand’s social presence?

Whatever the answer, its been real.