Today, I’ll be tackling the prompt questions for OcculTea topic #2, which is Influencer Authenticity. Of course, I’m not sure I’d consider myself an influencer, but authenticity is important to me. So bear in mind that my thoughts on this post will almost certainly Expand beyond authenticity on the parts of influencers. So with that basic introduction and disclaimer out of the way, let’s get on with the questions.

Out of what I share on social media, how much of it is staged vs. reality?

I’m not sure I fully understand this first question and I suspect that I think it’s setting up a bit of a false dichotomy as well. I think that staging something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not real, though I acknowledge that this is the colloquial understanding of the concept. But to give you a counterexample, consider the time that my local Unitarian Universalist church invite my (eclectic) coven to speak to their middle school kids during religious education. One of the things we were invited to do was to describe our basic ritual to the students and even give a demonstration. That ritual was staged in a sense. And yet, it was legitimately our ritual and I think conducting it in front of that that class had many of the same results as when we performed it at our covenstead the full moon prior to it.

I will note that I generally don’t discuss the specifics of my practice online. (I’ll note that this is something Yvonne Aburrow and I have in common.) I tend to talk more broadly and about much theory. I also like to get into theology. About the only things I have shared about my practice is that I have shared some of the prayers I have written for devotional purposes. And I think reciting those prayers is a willful act filled with meaning whether I do so on or off camera.

Do I think there is an element of censorship in online spaces? How do I decipher what is “appropriate” to share online vs. what to keep privately? Is this based on “social media etiquette” or a personal preference?

Based on the follow-up question, I get the impression we’re primarily talking about self-censorship. I tend to share things that meet the following criteria:

• I have a basic right to share it (That is, it’s not something I was given in confidence)
• It is something I feel comfortable and safe sharing
• I have no ethical qualms about what others might do with it if I share it or how it might impact them

Have I ever encountered or heard of grifters in our community? Do I recognize them? What are significant signs of grifters in the community?

Beyond the “spellcasters” that advertise their services (usually on Quora), I don’t think I have encountered any grifters. There have certainly people I’ve encountered who make me wonder how much I trust what they’re saying, but event hem I’m typically not convinced there’s an intent to deceive or defraud there. I have no doubt such people exist, however.

What tools are helpful to decipher misinformation, and how can we as a community prevent widespread misinformation?

This is one I think we need to take a certain amount of care with. There are plenty of witchcraft traditions and other occult and related practices out there. I’m not an expert on all of them by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I doubt I’m an expert on any of them! After all, even my own practice continues to develop and evolve over time.

Sometimes, I wonder if people are quick to discount something as “misinformation” when it’s really “something different from what their own tradition teaches.” In that case, I think that we need to be more accurate and say “this is contrary to my own tradition.” And yes, if someone is passing something off as being part of or a teaching of a particular tradition and we know this is false, we need to call that out as misinformation.

For the most part, I think a far more important thing to teach people is to learn to trust themselves, apply critical thinking skill, and figure out what their practice is and looks like. That way they can look at new information and decide whether they find it helpful and consistent with their own practice.

How does a large following impact the perception of the creator? Does this immediately make them an “expert”? Or are there other assumptions as to why they may have a large following?

Personally, I think the size of a creator’s following tells us more about their ability to cultivate a social media presence and following that it does about who they are as a witch or occultist. At most, it might tell us that what they are offering appeals to a lot of people. But again, this goes to my point that there are a lot of practices and traditions out there. A creator may have a witchcraft practice that I or someone else has no interest in for various reasons. I didn’t become a witch to follow the crowd. Though I’ll gladly go with the crowd if they happen to be going in the same direction I’m interested in going too.

How does one maintain the balance of authenticity and content creation?

I struggle with this. It’s probably part of the reason I have trouble creating content on a regular basis.