A recent study has shown that some one in five (19 per cent) Facebook users exaggerate their posts to make their lives seem more exciting. Over one third (38 per cent) worry about being tagged in unflattering photos and one quarter feel a sense of social anxiety when not invited to parties.

Commenting on the findings, Paul Shelter, CEO of Digital Proximates Ltd, said: “What we are seeing is people carefully curating their Facebook pages to present a façade that isn’t quite real. In general this is quite benign – and we are all guilty of it to a degree – but there is the potential for something slightly more sinister here. How much can you really know about someone online?

“The challenge that people face is being able to make an interaction that’s genuine. Many people are looking for something beyond the traditional social media channels. Social discovery apps are the virtual bridge between online and reality, offering the opportunity to develop relationships in the real world.

“Social discovery apps don’t provide users with the opportunity to endlessly fabricate ‘interesting’ lives for themselves. It’s not in itself about how many friends you have, which parties you go to or the exotic locations you holiday in. Rather, they solely rely upon users and what they have to say for themselves. In that sense, it’s often a more honest interaction.”

The process of social discovery essentially takes social media interactions one-step further by allowing individuals to search for others around them and enable them to connect through similar interests and ideas.

In today’s environment where consumers are continually looking to develop their knowledge, try new experiences and feed their interests, it is social discovery that is emerging as the ever-growing platform that is making the new findings around us easier to discover. Allowing people to shed their vanity and search for the connections that genuinely interest them.