For the Kids
Something that has bothered me for quite some time is my web presence and how I present myself in general. I want to have a clean image, but I also want my image to be authentic and reflective of my thoughts and beliefs. I like to think I embody some provocative ideas, and I wonder how readily apparent those ideas should be in my presentation.
For this reason, I refrain from profanity and alcohol in my blogs and tweets. I refrain from sharing certain videos that I think people would take out of context. My measure for whether I associate something with my web presence is whether I would feel comfortable having my little siblings and cousins see it. It’s sobering sometimes…
which makes me wonder if my measure is too harsh. Shouldn’t I account for the fact that I am 22 years old? I’ve grown to understand certain things with maturity, and I believe I have intelligent contributions. Should I guard myself from such things because kids are too young to understand or properly process?
I think of the web icons that I admire and how crushed I would have been as a kid to see them talking about “adult” things. I was very disappointed when Clara Chung, in one of her tour vlogs, decided to say at the beginning of her live show, “We sold out the motherf*cking Roxy!” Perhaps in that context, it would have benefited Clara to use my measure. But what about in other instances?
continuu 
Recently I’ve been struggling through the same thing. Last year I did things considered normal for my age… cursing, dirty jokes, and other questionable things to say the least. But looking back, while many people would say ‘oh that was nothing… it’s normal… it’s adult… you’re not a child anymore,’ I said/did things that I would never do in front of my parents, let alone encourage my little sister to do. I don’t want to live a life that I’m ashamed of. I don’t want to be a hypocrite to my little sister.
I’m not saying that we have to pretend like everything is peachy keen. The world cannot be censored forever. I think as long as you are living a life that your siblings can respect then it will make the “unveiling of the world” (so to speak) much easier to bear… You can prove to them that, contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to go along with every thing you hear. You can live a life that glorifies God, clean AND authentic.
When I read your text I think you come across as very sincere and genuine… it is good of you to be careful in what you post as it reflects that you are concerned with misleading others. But I also totally get how tough it is. You don’t want to come across as “holier than thou” but you don’t want to mislead either. I think this question of censorship vs. keeping it real will be something we struggle with for the rest of our lives.