Why My Photos Always Show Who I Really Am, by @aaroncarpenter
Aaron is a Youth Ambassador for the UN International Day of Peace. For more stories from inspiring teens and other young influencers like Aaron, explore the #ForgiveForPeace hashtag, follow @forgiveforpeace on Instagram and check out hashtagforgive.com. For more snapshots from Aaron’s life, follow @aaroncarpenter on Instagram.
“#hellomynameis Aaron Carpenter (@aaroncarpenter). I am 16 years old and from Shreveport, Louisiana. Social media has helped me become a more social person in real life. I used to get so shy whenever people would recognize me from Instagram and come up to me on the street. Now I’m much more outgoing. When I do get nervous, I remind myself that my fans are people who love me, I love them and I’m really just talking to friends.
I want people to look at my photos and know that I’m real. I don’t ever want to show images of someone I’m not. I want to inspire my fans to do the same. The people you see in my photos and videos are my real friends, and they have big social media followings, too. My friends are my biggest motivators. We’re always pushing each other to do better, and be better people. We mentor each other. We give each other advice. We may be young, but we’re more mature than a lot of other people — and we’re businessmen. For example, we know the best time to post for every time zone and what days are the best days to post. We think about stuff like that.
My followers are young, a lot are around my age. They’re surrounded by a lot of hate on social media. I try to promote positivity in everything I do. A couple of days ago, I was thinking about what it means to be a ‘normal 16 year old.’ But then I realized that this is my first time being 16, so what is normal? I love my life, and it’s normal to me. We shouldn’t compare ourselves to other people. I don’t want my fans to compare themselves to other people, either. Peace online is as important as peace offline.”
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