The Lottery, Adele and Authenticity in Social Media

Well, it’s happened again: someone or some group of people won Illinois’ Powerball.  It was either $340 million or $360 million; I forget now.  But the key point is that it wasn’t me.  I have never been one of those people who think that I’ll beat the odds (and since we’re talking some serious odds here, I must confess that I hadn’t even contemplated buying a ticket for the lottery)!  But each time someone wins, I do have a moment when I think that I may have missed my chance.  “I could have been a contender” had I just plunked down $2 for a Powerball ticket.

What does this have to do with blogging?  Nothing, really.  Except that I’m back at work (having not won the lottery) wondering if this blog post…or the next one… will beat the seemingly insurmountable odds and become a cult classic.  Or at least be ‘seen.’  Now, I know that’s not how it works.  I have not been putting out the number of blog posts necessary to ‘score’ in any way, and I know I do not have an incredibly unique perspective to impart, or great insight into All Things Social, but  I’m authentic.  Shouldn’t that count for something?

I mean, being authentic is probably the one thing we can all achieve, isn’t it?  And I know that authenticity has really arrived as one of the defining concepts of our time, because it seems to be genuinely taking hold. Chris Brogan has even put out a blog post in admiration of Adele’s truly authentic nature. And he’s right, she seems truly real, truly unaffected by her new stature in the music industry.  But I knew authenticity had arrived even before I read Chris’s Adele post.  I knew it when Madonna said last week that she was really nervous about her Super Bowl half-time appearance.  Madonna being real?  Now that’s something…the queen of vogue is now real?  Move over, Adele.  Madonna has spotted a trend.