The Great Authenticity Olympics

The Great Authenticity Olympics

More than a story...

Not long ago, people simply posted things online.

A blurry dinner.
A badly lit cat.
A tomato from their garden photographed like forensic evidence.

No strategy.
No “storytelling framework.”
No vulnerable carousel post about “what this tomato taught me about resilience.”

Just tomato.

Then the algorithms arrived.

And suddenly everyone became:

• a thought leader
• a narrative architect
• a mindset strategist
• a personal brand
• and somehow also deeply opposed to personal branding

The modern internet is fascinating because everybody now insists they are “being real” with the production intensity of a Super Bowl commercial.

Every post arrives with:

• cinematic lighting
• calibrated vulnerability
• optimized pacing
• emotional hooks
• strategic authenticity
• and a pause between paragraphs large enough to suggest wisdom

Like this.

See?

The spacing means the truth is happening.

Meanwhile, a new online profession emerged... The Authenticity Detectives™

These people can allegedly detect:

• AI-generated writing
• fake vulnerability
• manufactured depth
• synthetic humility
• and suspiciously correct punctuation

They patrol the internet armed with caffeine, fatigue, and the sentence: “This feels AI-generated.”

Which is funny because after ten years of algorithms, templates, SEO advice, growth strategies, coaching language, and engagement optimization… Humans now sound algorithmic too.

Everyone writes like a motivational monk who recently discovered analytics.

“Read that again.”
“Let that sink in.”
“This is your reminder.”
“Most people aren’t ready for this conversation.”

At some point the entire internet became one giant LinkedIn post wearing different outfits.

Even rebellion became optimized.

Someone posts: “I refuse to follow trends.”

Underneath:

• SEO hashtags
• affiliate links
• emotionally engineered storytelling
• a newsletter funnel
• and a thumbnail where they stare into the middle distance like a startup prophet

Beautiful.

Absolutely beautiful.

The strange thing is I don’t even think most people are lying.

I think people are exhausted.

Exhausted from performing intelligence.
Performing originality.
Performing wisdom.
Performing “humanness” itself.

And maybe that’s why tiny imperfections suddenly feel trustworthy again.

A weird sentence.
A typo.
An awkward laugh.
A blurry photo of tomatoes.

Because perfection now feels corporate.

Too polished = suspicious.
Too inspirational = probably selling something.
Too authentic = definitely selling something.

And somewhere in the middle of all this, people quietly started missing when the internet was slightly uglier…but slightly more alive.

Honestly?

I think that’s why the tomato posts are winning now...

Years ago people mocked them.

Now they call it: “raw digital intimacy.” Or better : “raw human dwelling.”

Same tomato.
Different algorithm.

😏 Fleeky

Thank you for likes, shares and comments!

Your take on authenticity?

PS
the listicles are essential for better reading and are optimized for the human eye.
They have existed long before AI and were commonly used in explanatory articles.