Be more authentic

Be more authentic paragraph.com
Be more authentic
by mishaderidder.eth13093 🥝 • 1y
AI summary of the linked article

The essay argues that the call to "be more authentic" is incoherent on social media, where platforms reward conformity, curated niches and engagement, so that people end up collapsing their selves into what is easily validated. It cites the short-lived app Be Real, which users modified once retakes were allowed, and influencers whose personalities centre on consumption. Drawing on Kierkegaard's finite and infinite poles, the author warns that this collapse risks despair, and the piece concludes that resisting it requires recognizing our own complicity.

avatar
I‘d love to follow this call, but the issue that I see is that authenticity isn‘t really incentivized online. Try to be authentic for once, you‘ll see the anon bullies emerge from all sides. And besides, there are also people who will try to take advantage for other reasons, eg, monetary
avatar
Yes, agree. Besides that I don’t even know what my real self is, but I’m being pretty authentic here at Kiwi :) People are not inherently unique, instead they often mimic others. The endless pursuit of self-discovery is a waste of time, people are too shallow to be as interesting as they think. The notion of a true hidden self is a romantic fantasy. Best is just to embrace uncertainty and letting go of ego all together! (Harder than you think.)
Characters remaining: 10,000

comment guidelines