The Ethics Of My Personal Branding
June 27, 2025
An actual photo of me providing a homeless busker with shelter during the rain in Xi’an, China.
The Ethics Of My Personal Branding
Time and attention are limited resources.
All personal branding requires some measure of attention-seeking.
Every single person online with a public presence of any kind is a person who needs a certain level of public attention to be successful.
- If you wrote a book, you won’t make any sales if you don’t garner any attention from your target audience necessary to read it.
- If you publish a YouTube video, what would be the point in doing so if you don’t receive a “view,” which is to say that you need at least one other person’s attention to watch it.
- If you sell handicrafts on Etsy, no one will buy your art if you fail to gain the attention of the customers who would appreciate it.
Therefore, there is nothing morally wrong with attention-seeking in its purest form, especially when the intent leads to a noble end that satisfies all parties involved in the exchange.
However, there is such a thing as unethical attention-seeking—this is when we’d get into people like “nuisance streamers” who disrupt public peace, disrespect, threaten, or even harm others in some way in order to gain attention for its own sake—without a noble goal in mind.
Therein, put simply, I define ethical attention-seeking as the pursuit of the exchange of time and attention as a resource in which both the target audience and the benefactor of the attention mutually benefit from such an exchange without the expense of the common good.
That said, I have built a personal brand, but not at the expense of the common good. I have a strict moral code in the development of my personal branding that may inhibit the rate of my growth in terms of social media virality but preserve the integrity of my character throughout the accomplishment of any personal branding milestone.
I believe in quality over quantity when it comes to followers, which is why I will go above and beyond to handwrite letters to my most invested followers for free—sharing with them not simply my content but a part of my soul in a way that hurts or vampires attention from no one.
Here is how my persona works:
The same person I am in the light is the same person I am in the dark.
My ethos doesn’t change off-screen.
I may merely omit specific details of what’s going on to the public for the sake of the general concept of privacy, or confidential conversations I have with specific followers for their own sake.
But I refuse to lie to my audience.
I merely may not tell every excruciating detail of what’s going on in my personal life, for obvious and understandable reasons that may not even have to do with me, but the respect for other people’s privacy who may be connected to me.
But I really am who I say I am.
- I will try my absolute best to provide whatever proof I can for any of my claims while holding myself accountable to the credibility of my own example for the wisdom I provide.
- I will sacrifice my ego when challenged to do so for the sake of authenticity, truth, or a greater moral good.
- I will self-reflect, self-correct, and apologize (publicly) when someone in the audience shows me the inevitable err of my ways.
- I will admit when I need help with something, never intentionally attempting to appear larger than life (simply because I know how easy it is to fraudulently do that online).
- I will always give my audience my best effort for whatever I set my mind to in the value I provide to them, even if some projects may fail or require delays to complete or succeed.
With that said, I am human. I won’t always be correct in everything that I say and write. I have limited energy levels for projects and communication across due dates as I run into unforeseen obstacles along the journey.
I mean to present myself in good faith, not as an expert of life but as a student who simply may be ahead of others in various topics. At the end of the day, I am merely a dad and husband who is self-aware of his variety of marketable skills and experiences, while simply meaning to leverage those assets to provide for my family in an ethical way.
I seek attention for my personal brand to serve the noble cause of each of my company missions, ranging from serving and protecting my civilization in an entrepreneurial way (Wolven Industries), to helping people break generational cycles of dysfunction with my literary work.
I pledge never to act in any intentionally deceptive way.
My intentions are good.
I mean only to establish a real connection with as many genuine followers as possible on a quality over quantity basis while demonstrating authenticity, respect, and sincerity at all times.
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.” — Marcus Aurelius
Social Media Governance:
What To Expect When Interacting With Me Or My Admins On Social Media
What Will Get You Banned/Blocked:
— Manipulative behavior: This includes (but isn’t limited to) the use of fake profiles, lying (about anything), histronic displays of victimhood pertaining to my handling of you in the comments, or even pretending to approach as a friend on the premise of a false assumption.
— Religious evangelism: Speak freely about whatever your faith may be, but do not expect me to convert to those beliefs and do not expect to use my page as a place to proselytize others as my page is not your podium. You will not use my kindness and tolerance as a conduit of weakness for your personal, religious agenda. I don’t care if you’re a Muslim, Christian, or whatever: Pestering me for religious debates, needless disrespect of the Norse, or histrionic displays of false persecution simply because I choose not to believe what you believe, or explain why I choose not to believe what you believe when asked, will quickly be interpreted as a violation of my religious freedom as an American, and you will absolutely be banned on the spot.
— Political evangelism: Just like religious evangelism, speak freely about whatever your political beliefs may be, but know that I have my beliefs and my page is not your personal, political warzone. You will not use my kindness and tolerance as a conduit of weakness for your personal, political agenda. I don’t care if you’re a communist, a black supremacist, or a neo-Nazi: Pestering me for political debates, needless disrespect of Western civilization, its history or peoples, or histrionic displays of false persecution simply because I do not support your political agenda, or explain why I choose not to support your political agenda when asked, will quickly be interpreted as an act of political subversion, and you will absolutely be banned on the spot.
— Expressions of deep pain pertaining to my content: If you indicate, either directly or indirectly, that my content is making you spiral into depression, enraging you with envy, etc., for whatever reason, you will experience a “mercy banning” to prevent my content from negatively impacting your mental health. Both mine and yours.
— Unsolicited selling: My page is not a place for you to sell your products and services. Build your own page for that. If you are caught by either me or the admins selling your wares on my page without prior written permission, you will be banned on the spot without further explanation.
What Will NOT Get You Banned/Blocked:
— Questioning the credibility of my stories or personal narrative: I will always be as upfront as I can with any claim that I make. Sometimes, there are reasonable limits to the proof or evidence I can provide for a variety of reasons, making it understandable not to take me at face value on certain things. You have every right to disbelieve anything I say; no matter how uncomfortable it may be for me, it will still take more than that for me to ban you.
— Racist remarks: Have at it. Regardless of what racial group you’re referring to, omnidirectionally. Even if you make fun of my own racial makeup, you will not be banned for that alone. Just beware: While I genuinely support your freedom of speech in this way does not mean that I personally agree with you, nor does it mean that you won’t be reported by someone else other than me. I won’t ever report you, but keep in mind that if you choose to engage in this kind of rhetoric, you are on the open web. Anyone can report you at any time from any direction, which means that simply because I may tolerate you doesn’t mean that someone in my audience will.
So, don’t play victim if/when it happens; I wasn’t the one who did it to you.
— Criticism: Knock yourself out. Honest criticism or disagreement can counterintuitively make for great engagement and the discovery of deeper truths. Even if you’re hurtful about how you express your criticism, so long as your criticism is coming from an honest place in your heart, not driven by malevolence, and doesn’t signal that you are in an acute amount of emotional pain (see the mercy banning policy above), you have nothing to worry about pertaining to being blocked or banned.
— Asking me deep, personal questions: At worst, I will simply refrain from answering your question. But you have every right to at least ask whatever you want. If I am putting myself out there in the public, I can’t play victim if people want clarification on a claim I make or some aspect of my personal story as it may relate to them.
In general, it is an honor to answer deep, personal questions as I find them the most invigorating to answer rather than surface-level small talk questions.
If I don’t want to answer something, I simply won’t. So, don’t be afraid.
My “Take Your Helmet Off” Policy On Fake or Missing Default Pictures:
— Your profile may be real, but you may be hiding your actual face.
I generally choose to interpret that as you refusing to take your helmet off when addressing me, which isn’t going to get you banned at first on its own, but warrants no particular respect from me.
Therefore, if it seems like you’re speaking from a real account but hide your face, you may not be banned—but you definitely shouldn’t feel entitled to a response from me, either. I may respond to your comments, but it is less likely, as I believe people should generally own what they say with integrity in both their public and private lives.
If warned or banned on this premise, either me or my admins may refer to it in shorthand by saying “TYHO” (aka “Take Your Helmet Off”).
I do make exceptions, however, for people who mean me well, but may be hiding their face for other reasons pertaining to their personal security.
Tiered Governance:
— Not all netizens are treated equally on my social media pages.
There are three major categories I divide netizens into:
- Paying subscribers (or people who have purchased something from me in the past, whatever it may be)
- Long-time free subscribers
- Everybody else
Paying subscribers will always be given the right of way during disagreements with other readers, as well as privileged treatment and attention from me.
We don’t care if that makes you upset; they paid for the way they’re treated, and they support my work and life mission in a real and tangible way.
Long-time non-paying subscribers are always appreciated, especially the paid subscribers, who generally start as long-time free subscribers anyhow. This class of netizens typically shows support in whatever ways they can, and their thoughts do count.
Every other kind of netizen will be treated with respect in accordance with these rules and code of ethics, but impersonally so—never given any special treatment above the other two classes of subscribers.
For one example (out of many possible): If you are a politically pro-black netizen who doesn’t like that the majority of my audience (particularly my paying audience) consists of people who so happen to be white or even that my family is white (particularly white people with mere self-esteem), I am flat-out not going to care (at all) if you think I’m racist when I ban you from any of my pages for making any of the higher-tier subscribers uncomfortable.
You really are welcome here, but they come first. I’m not tolerating any nonsense, and you will treat them with respect while you are on my pages, or you can get gone.
So, don’t be shocked if/when it happens if you don’t respect the rules of my house or the people supporting it.
You have been warned.
The Right To Reject Paying Customers:
— I reserve the right to reject any attempt from anyone to buy anything from me at any time, especially if they break the rules/terms of service.
Buying something from me, or becoming a paid subscriber, will generally earn you extra respect and special treatment over other subscribers, naturally. But that doesn’t mean you own me.
Nor does it mean that, if you think of yourself as some kind of political opposition (such as the pro-black example above), all of a sudden you’re immune from being banned/blocked, and you suddenly bought a pass to freely make everyone else in the community we’ve built miserable.
That is not going to happen.
The customer is not always right. I will cut and/or reject your subscription or other purchases and/or refund your money on a contextual, case-by-case scenario, just to get you out of my hair, as well as the hair of my most faithful supporters.
I’d much rather have 1,000 true fans than sell my soul for 1 million.
Your money is not worth our peace and never will be.
You have been warned.
Honor these rules and you will never have a problem on my page, regardless of what your skin color may be, or what your beliefs are or are not, irrespective of whether you personally like me or not.
