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How to Unbrand Yourself

You can’t be off-brand when you’re not a brand

Ria Tagulinao
Age of Empathy
10 min readDec 19, 2024

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Catching up with Bonj over breakfast

Recently my friend Bonj asked me why I migrated to a new Instagram account. “Well…”, I stalled, wondering where I should start or how even to explain myself.

Usually, people create another social media account for one of two reasons: They want more privacy and the freedom to post whatever the hell they want. Or they want the opposite: to use it for a less personal and single-minded reason. Maybe they want to catalog their favorite art pieces. Or dump photos of their fur baby. Or express their matcha obsession. Or promote their fitness business.

My account is public, so it’s obviously not the first reason — but the second reason neither applies. If you look at my posts, they have no focus, no tenor, no theme. I share random things from core memories to favorite quotes to dog reels to — naturally, as a millennial — food pics. I use Instagram far less frequently now, but apart from that, there’s virtually no difference between how I used my now-defunct account and how I use my current account.

So I get why my friends are like, make it make sense?!

But Bonj, as it turned out, had his own reasons for asking. Scrolling through his profile, he realized his six-year-strong hobby had inadvertently dominated his feed: Action shots…

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Age of Empathy
Age of Empathy

Published in Age of Empathy

We publish high-quality personal essays, humor essays, and writer interviews. Our goal is to provide a place for experienced writers to share authentic stories and connect with others, collectively celebrating a common passion, striving toward an age of empathy.

Ria Tagulinao
Ria Tagulinao

Written by Ria Tagulinao

Fun-sized Filipina Writer | To stay up-to-date with my work, here's my Sunday newsletter: http://riatagulinao.substack.com

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