The publicized news, last month, concerning Yada Awakening, Daejon Love, and Uras Agee IV are examples of how people can use social media to build their identities around accomplishments, status, and imagery they have not actually achieved. They create personas through their claimed occupations, displayed lifestyles, and advice, as a presentation of their realities.
The situation involving Love, who presented himself as an NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers, demonstrates how easily social media can influence public perception. He posted content of himself working out while wearing the team’s gear and displaying a flashy lifestyle, as part of an effort to prey on women for money. His partner in crime, Taylor Jamie Chan, 18, reportedly help with the scheme, presenting himself as Love’s financial investor. The scheme resulted in Love obtaining more than $1.3 million through a romance scam, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Then there’s Agee, who has also come under scrutiny after Love’s arrest, for presenting a false NFL persona. The former Division II football player reportedly presented himself as having played for the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His social media presence featured workout content of him wearing the NFL team gear, AI generated photo of him posing with Jay-Z that he had signed with Roc Nation Sports, and flashy imagery designed to portray him as living a wealthy lifestyle. The Chattanooga, TN native also created a profile through Open Sponsorship, as a potential avenue for monetizing the image he presented for brand endorsements and appearances.
L-R: Uras Agee IV and Daejon Love, both accused of portraying NFL players on social media; Courtesy of Open Sponsorship and @2bcontinued_4/Instagram
The larger issue is that people, generally view celebrities and professional athletes as influential or powerful figures. An identity built around being a professional athlete visually comes with certain perks, including fame, attention, money, and social acceptance. That perceived status creates a fake presentation, used as leverage to gain access to people’s trust, money, or other resources. Flashy lifestyles, designer items, and professional sports gear add to the layer of creating an image of success and credibility, particularly to a vulnerable audience.
And then there is the relationship-coaching space……..
One recent example involves Atlanta-based wellness influencer and relationship coach Yada Awakening, whose real name is Yahdan Yada. He has publicly described himself as a self-described minister and healer while building a platform around wellness, relationships, masculinity, and how men should treat women.
In August 2026, Divine Queen Yada announced that she was ending her marriage of almost ten years with Yada Awakening. She publicly alleged that she experienced domestic violence during the relationship and shared images and screenshot messages to support her claims. After the allegations surfaced, he shared videos from a trip to Africa without publicly addressing the claims. Earlier this month, he was booked on a misdemeanor battery-family violence charge. The case remains pending.
That development makes the allegations surrounding his relationship stands out. significant. In addition, Yada has also spoken publicly about having another wife in Africa, to media personality Angela Yee, two years ago, describing that relationship to support his business interest. The presentation leaves confused audiences wondering: “How can someone, especially a person who is single or experiencing difficulties in a relationship, understand what a healthy and authentic relationship truly looks like?”
That question comes, especially when an influential figure built his platform around teaching others about relationships, masculinity, and how men should treat women, while facing allegations that appear to contradict the values presented through that public persona. There is already a divide on social media, with a lot of male-versus-female back-and-forth in the comments. Many people are standing on the lifeline, looking for a glimpse of hope for a long-standing relationship.
A wise person must understand that social media can provide audiences with carefully selected glimpses into a person’s relationships, lifestyle, beliefs, and character. Those images, however, may not tell the complete story.
That’s at the heart of the conversation that life coach and entrepreneur, Tony Gaskins, has been encouraging people to have through his platform. Gaskins has emphasized the importance of relationship experts living the life they teach their audiences and isn’t one to shy away from calling out relationship gurus who don’t walk the talk.
Gaskins has openly discussed his promiscuous lifestyle during his younger years before changing his ways and eventually meeting his wife, who was unwilling to play his games. From there, he says he developed a stronger relationship with God and began using his platform to help others through his real lives’ experiences. He eventually built a successful marriage and thriving business.
Images of Tony Gaskins, his wife, and their two sons: Photo Credit: Tony Gaskins/Facebook
Through his personal growth, Gaskins has encouraged his audience to exercise discernment when listening to relationship experts, particularly those who offer advice about relationships despite not being married themselves and properly heal. He has also shared that, earlier in his life, he once pretended to be a professional football player in an effort to attract women for sexual favors.
A person can teach women how they deserve to be treated. A person can teach men how to become better husbands. A person can also build a platform around success, fame, healing, a happy home, relationships, and personal growth. But audiences should still look at the fruit and dig through the core of the presentation.
Without authentic, documentary-style glimpses into someone’s life, audiences may be left watching fictional trailers play out in the digital world – adding another layer to the growing number of individuals who are writing a false story script about how they want the movie to be played out without editing the story to reflect the real outcome.
Tracey C. Morrison, Journalist
That’s the biggest lesson of 2026: Social media can become a stage for constructed identities while hiding a person’s real intentions backstage. True character, without emotionalism or the lust of the world, should determine whether you place your trust in them.
