There was a time when proximity was destiny.
We worked with the people we lived near, fell in love with the ones we bumped into at events or in lecture halls, and trusted those we saw every day. Familiarity bred connection. But we no longer live in that world.
Today, our first impressions are built with pixels. Our most meaningful relationships – personal and professional – often begin with a search bar, a profile, a post. What used to start with a handshake now begins with a scroll. And yet, many people are still preparing for a world that doesn’t exist anymore.
When nearly two-thirds of romantic relationships now begin online, we’re witnessing a deeper societal shift: trust formation has gone digital. That’s not a dating trend. It’s a global signal. We don’t need more proof that people are willing to believe in, follow, or commit to someone they’ve never met in person. The question now is – are you one of those people they can believe in?
This isn’t a commentary on social media. It’s a reflection on visibility. On presence. On resonance.
Because in a world where love, leadership, hiring, and buying decisions are all increasingly filtered through online impressions, your digital footprint is not a vanity metric. It’s a trust signal. And your absence is no longer neutral – it’s suspicious. Silence doesn’t suggest humility. It suggests opacity. It creates friction where there should be flow.
This matters more than most people think. Especially if you’re building something – a team, a product, a mission, a movement. Because before people trust what you do, they have to trust who you are. Before they buy from your company, they buy into you. Whether you’re recruiting, fundraising, or trying to get hired, you’re not just selling a product or pitching a résumé. You’re inviting people into a story. And people don’t follow logos. They follow people.
Culture used to be built in offices, passed through coffee chats and hallway conversations. Now, culture is encountered on timelines. Values are made visible through posts, not posters. And your online presence – what you say, how you show up, what you respond to – becomes a proxy for who you are in real life. That’s not superficial. That’s adaptive. When the stage has changed, the performance must evolve.
Still, some people hesitate. “I’m not a content person,” they say. But the truth is – this isn’t about content. It’s about consistency. It’s about clarity. You don’t need to go viral. You just need to be visible. What do you stand for? What do you care about? What are you learning, building, struggling with, hopeful for? That’s the material that builds trust. Not perfection, but presence.
This is especially urgent for leaders. If you’re in a position of influence, your silence online is not humility – it’s a missed opportunity to model openness. If you’re building a company or a cause, your invisibility is not privacy – it’s a vacuum of leadership. People want to believe in something.
But belief needs a vessel. A voice. A face.
The good news? You don’t need to perform. You need to participate. Show your work. Share your questions. Tell people what you’re building, and why. Not the polished version – the real one. That’s what makes people trust you. Because when you show up as a real person, people start to believe they can too.
If you’re still clinging to the idea that your work should speak for itself, remember: so is everyone else. The difference is, the ones who share what they’re working on are the ones being discovered. The rest are left to be found, eventually – if ever.
This is not a call to overshare or to live performatively. It’s a call to be intentional. To be findable for the right reasons. Because if people can’t see you, they can’t trust you. And if they can’t trust you, they won’t join you, follow you, fund you, or choose you.
Somewhere between the DMs and the resumes, the world rewired itself. The same mechanisms that match romantic partners are now matching us with employers, collaborators, investors, and allies. If love begins with a profile, so does belief. So does momentum. So does trust.
So, what does your presence say about you? And more importantly – what could it?
You don’t need to master algorithms or chase followers. You just need to speak. Often enough, honestly enough, consistently enough that people can connect the dots between what you say and what you stand for.
Because in a world that now begins online, your reputation is your résumé. Your clarity is your calling card. And your story is your signal.
So the question isn’t whether you should build a personal brand. It’s whether you’re willing to be trusted.
And in 2025, trust begins before we ever meet.