Are you up for a lie detection test?

What's your intent?

Try this: think about the last thing you posted something online (shares don't count). Was it witty? Insightful? A subtle brag? A 'check in'?
Now ask yourself: what was your line of thinking when you put that up?
'Think before you post' is a common adage in our modern world, but it's easy to put that on the back burner. Why do we feel the need to update the world on our every little activity? Digital media professional Mohammed Ali Jamadar sums it up in two words - peer pressure. "Bragging on social media can be done in two ways - overt and covert. Overt is when people are talking about brunching in the Burj Al Arab, or showing off a fancy new car or watch. And then you have people who do it covertly and, often, subconsciously. They see the way others are bragging on Facebook all the time and, suddenly, they too feel the need to validate their experiences, no matter how grand, by announcing them to the world."
There certainly is a thin line between putting information about your life out there and bragging - and the tone of your post and the intention behind it can make all the difference. However, no matter your intent, the difference can sometimes be lost on the audience. Chandan Mathrawala, a lifestyle blogger at fcubedubai.com, believes it's all subjective. "What elicits a 'wow' reaction from one person can invoke absolutely no response from another," she adds.

The pursuit of online happiness

When was the last time you had a really bad day? More importantly, did you feel the need to share these details on social media? Chances are, the answer is no.
We are all conditioned to present the very best of us online, while hiding away our flaws because we are all constantly competing with others. Who's living the perfect life? Only our profiles will tell. The need to be socially ecstatic at all times can be all the more intense if you follow bloggers or 'influencers' who, as the joke goes, cannot have a bad day.
"Yes, a lot of people do brag online," admits food blogger Aneesha Rai, of omnomnirvana.com. "But sometimes, people mistake a blogger's many collaborations as bragging. They're just trying to promote their blog or a brand they work with, but people end up having 'Insta-envy' because bloggers just look like they are living amazing lives all the time - even though they aren't."

Finding the right balance

Social media is designed to tell the world what we're doing on a daily basis. And you can use it to inform your loved ones of your whereabouts. or make yourself - and your life - look better than it is. But while you think bragging on social media may be innocent fun, there are always some lines you do not cross. "Remember Kim Kardashian's Paris heist?" asks Chandan. "A lot of bloggers share everything about their day, and that doesn't necessarily mean it'll have negative consequences. But remember never to provoke people with your lifestyle."
Mohammed makes a different, but equally interesting, point. "Social media is an extension of your personality," he says. "The saying 'your first impression is a lasting impression' is true and, in today's day and age, your first impression is your online presence."
The trick to staying active online, without getting a bad online rep, he says, is all about deciding what you want to do with the medium. "Whether you're there to network, keep up with friends or follow news, you have to know what is your online personality. And that personality has to be as stable as your real personality."
It doesn't sound easy - just when you're done figuring out who you are, you have to do it for another online version of yourself. But it's important to set a few boundaries for yourself, and the sooner the better.
"If a person wants to present himself or herself in a better way by, say, editing their pictures, they have every right to do so," says Aneesha. "But it's fake, and the truth will be out there sooner or later. If you see the biggest social media trends right now - Facebook Live or Snapchat - you realise that social media is evolving to make us present our most honest selves. You can't hide the real you for very long." janice@khaleejtimes.com

Travails of Kim
Kim Kardashian was once the most followed person on Instagram. Well, it turned out, it was hard for robbers not to notice her either. When the reality TV star travelled to Paris for the Fashion Week earlier this year, she posted all the details online as usual - the shows she was attending and the clothes she was wearing... It made her an easy target for robbers who later held her at gunpoint and took $10 million worth of jewellery off her.
The cops in Paris said the robbers had focused on possessions that had been 'seen and noticed via social media' - like a ring worth $4 million that the star has posted a picture of on Instagram just four days earlier. Following the incident, the Kardashian family decided to take time off social media to re-evaluate, but got back to tweeting and Instagramming less than a month later. Guess old habits die hard.
Life vs #Insta
No social media platform allows you to put filters on reality quite like Instagram. And while pictures say a thousand words, they shouldn't always be believed, as in the case of 18-year-old Instagram star Essena O'Neill. The Australian blogger made headlines last year when she quit social media because she realised just how consumed she was by the virtual world. O'Neill deleted about 2,000 photos from her Instagram account, editing the remaining captions to reveal the reality - and frivolity - behind them all.