Is social media inherently inauthentic?

This is a bit of a meta question. I was thinking about the next social network/media platforms, especially with the AI slop invasion causing some disruption in the field. When Facebook became popular back in the day, I remember horrible party photo dumps, fueled by alcohol and neglect, and now it feels impossible to do the same in the performative social media culture we have now. I and my close friend circle stopped sharing stories even, due to the pressure of being compared. And the potential saviours such as BeReal, Beme, Dispo, Lapse and maybe more have failed. Snapchat might be popular among Gen Z but I think they are fighting for survival more than thriving. There's also the possibility that social networks moved into private WhatsApp group chats and such things, but navigating separate friend and family groups is not the authentic social network we were promised tbh.

So, long story short, do you think social media platforms need to be performative to be successful? Or do we actually value authenticity and boring lives of our friends but no platform could implement this yet?

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