Are you familiar with the feeling?

You scroll through social media and see lots of content you want to replicate on your page. You write the script, take the photo or even record the video but you can’t post it.

You think it’s fear of being in front of the camera so you just write posts and use graphics to convey your information. But you notice you can’t post that either for various reasons.

You’re not sure if you know enough to teach online or if you even have anything to share that anyone may be interested in.

So you’re just there, scrolling on TikTok, laughing at funny videos, and passing time because you don’t want to be the person with zero engagements on their posts or even worse, get dragged on Twitter.

The good thing is, you’re not alone. The bad thing is, there’d always be people like you. Social media is a powerful tool that helps you take advantage of the creator economy and achieve lots of things on the internet.

But to get there, you need to move past the feeling of anxiety and inadequacy, and just start.

Here are some tips to help you move past that and easily share your content online so you can enjoy all the benefits of social media.

1. Identify your “why”

Like many things in life, the first step to achieving any significant thing is to identify your “why.” That is, the reason behind the action you’re about to take. Why do you want to post on social media? Why do you want to have an audience? Why do you want to build a community?

Identifying your reason helps you analyze your action and to know if it’s worth your time and resources.

Maybe you want to build an audience so you can create a digital product and sell to them or you want to build a personal brand that’ll serve as your social proof, or you want to become a creator or influencer. Whatever the reason is, if your ‘why’ is something bigger than yourself, then you have a valid reason to kick through your anxiety.

Folasade Daini, a digital creator and content strategist explains it better in the annual Digital Creators Summit event. In her words, “Let purpose fill your creativity.” Meaning, you’ve got to have a reason so strong that influences your content on social media or why you want to post on social media.

With a strong “why,” you can easily remind yourself of it when you get anxious or can’t think of a valid reason to be present on social media. Rather than hide, focus on all the good things that can happen if you stick to your why and push through the anxiety.

2. Change your perspective

Oftentimes, we are so stuck up in our heads, thinking about what social media is supposed to look like, forgetting that we create what social media truly is.

It’s “social” media for a reason, and all the things you find interesting were all created by people who didn’t think social media was supposed to be a certain way and just did what they wanted to do.

If you search online for how to post on social media, you’ll find a lot of guides and tips on what to do. From posting every day to sharing high-quality photos and videos, having an aesthetically pleasing feed, and going on IG lives. The rules are a lot.

But what a lot of them fail to mention is that your social media account is whatever you want it to be. So while there’s pressure to make your content look or sound a certain way, let go of the need to compulsorily work with those rules.

By the way, who set them?

Rather than following laid down rules, start by having a personal schedule and sticking to it. If your goal is to post twice a week, then do so. You don’t have to post every day to “be consistent.”

Feel free to use various content formats to pass your message. There’s no hard rule as to what format will work. You have to first try it out, then decide.

More importantly, no one is watching you as closely as you think. “People who follow you on the internet just want to consume..,” says Phidelia, a digital creator.

Your audience is constantly being fed posts from other creators vying for their attention. So, post what you can, when you can, and do not pressurize yourself, or else, you’ll give up sooner than you’re supposed to (we all have the giving up moment.)

3. Be yourself

The best thing you really want to be at this point is yourself. As a creator, there are lots of other creators out there who you’d rather be like.

But this is where you have to stop and ask.

“Why do I like this creator?”

When you really think about it, there’s a unique factor that attracts you to the creator. It could be their tone of voice, fashion sense, skill set, video/content style, or aesthetics. But there’s always one thing that catches your interest when you come across their content.

Now, apply this to yourself and think about all the things you like. Ordinarily, we’ll say, think about the things that make you unique but that’s probably far-fetched. So, think about the things you like, how you like them, what you like about them and so on.

Itemize it so you can clearly see the things that make you up.

Next, think of how you’ll share the things you like on social media to build a community of like-minded people. In Salem King’s voice, “Regardless of what you like, you’ll find your people on the internet.”

So don’t be scared to talk about the things you like and find interesting. These things make you unique. Phidelia says, “Authenticity is what sets you apart, and you can’t be authentic if you are following trends, algorithm changes or just copying people.”

When you relieve yourself of the pressure to be like someone or act a certain way to build an audience online, it becomes easier to show up online.

Even better, it becomes easier to create and sell a digital product because you have people who are attracted to your brand because you are genuine.

And if you think talking about your interests online means you’re oversharing, write that post, or look at that image and ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen?”

You’ll either get dragged on Twitter or get a couple of hateful comments or even trend, which is fine because you’re not supposed to appeal to everyone and even if you get dragged online, it’s just a bad day, not a bad life.

So, get out of your head and remember you’re posting for people who’ll benefit from what you have to say.

4. Just post it

You see the only way to know how bad things will get is to just do it. Hit publish on that article, post that photo, upload that video of you dancing, and tweet your opinion about a topic.

How will you know what will happen unless you try?

On social media, people are just writing for themselves and interacting with content they find interesting. Sharing your content online allows you to talk about the things you like, explore them further, and connect with people who have similar interests.

The post you’re overthinking about getting the design right and using a friendly tone may not even be noticed by your audience. Most people wouldn’t even know if it took 5 hours of research to write a single LinkedIn post or if your heart wouldn’t stop beating fast because you were overwhelmed with worry.

Thankfully, there are options to unfollow, block, or mute someone who you don’t like their content. This makes things very easy as people who do not like your content can scroll past it.

It can be so easy to overthink things when sharing content online that we fail to realize that the only person thinking it’s a big deal is you.

Post your content and share it everywhere. What’s the worst that can happen?

Start posting

The main key to overcoming the fear of posting on social media is to remember that it’s not about you.

Showing up on social media depends on your ‘why.” It could be to help you share your knowledge online and use your skills to help people. Or it could even be to make money in exchange for the value you’ve offered over time. Whatever it may be, find a ‘why’ and share your content online!

And when it’s time to make money from your audience online, create a digital product and sell it on Selar.

It’s FREE.