Authenticity > Authority

Joined Clubhouse today. Holy shit, it was so cringe.

Every speaker acted like an "authority" of whatever subject they were in. Regardless of whether they really should be in a position to give advice, their reason for being a speaker felt extremely disingenuous. They felt fake. And it did not inspire me to care about what they had to say.

It reminds me of a video I saw from journalist-youtube-chef Adam Ragusea a while back. He gets into the topic of Authenticity vs. Authority.

His point: authenticity is more trustworthy than authority, and therefore creates a more engaged audience. In his videos he doesn't try to act like the best chef of all time because he knows we would all roll our eyes and see through his bullshit. Instead, he teaches his viewers from the perspective that he's just like us. He doesn't say things are right or wrong, only what works best for him.

Adam Ragusea acknowledges his biases. He knows he's not the best. He knows he shouldn't be telling his viewers what to do. He's not speaking from a place of authority. He presents information as if we should be taking what he says with a grain of salt. And yet, it has the exact opposite effect—it makes us even more inclined to listen to him.

That's what Clubhouse was lacking. Too much authority and no authenticity. Not a hint of humility.

Their motives of self-growth were so transparent, with each speaker referencing their Instagram accounts every two minutes. The absolute lack of authenticity sucked away any trust I might've had for any of these speakers. It made me not want to listen and not care. These people weren't human, they were robots.

From here on out, I'm going to try to be as authentic as possible. I never want to be an "authority" and act like those Clubhouse guys.

If you want people to listen to you, don't be authoritative—be authentic.

Authenticity is the new authority.