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In my limited experience, presenting an open and self aware honesty coupled with comfortable humor (for me it's often self-deprecating) is the best way to endear yourself to people. You're right that being perceived as inauthentic is the death knell for attempting to engage with people; it's a tight line to walk but I think it's possible for a lot of people if they take their stress and tension out of the conversation.

My favorite social media success of the past year (at least I think it was the past year) was the Hamburger Helper mixtape. They enlisted some talented local artists to produce a genuinely entertaining piece of marketing that was self aware enough to avoid being seen as a "fellow kids" stunt. It was honest about its nature, and its quality allowed it to breach the trust gap.




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