What I mean is real in the deep philosophical sense. Even in person most are not real. I really try to be authentic to myself and others but I know that I fail much of the time. The reasons are many and complex. I'm not just talking about people being a-holes. We are incentivized to present certain things and hide others. That's not real. 

That's what I mean. I don't believe it is healthy to take what people post online as real. Not in the same way we trust people we know. I have my reasons for seeing things this way. It is mostly from experience.

kepford

Stacker News is social media. So what?

StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears

Oh yeah, everyone's got an online persona, but I'm not sure I'd say they're not inherently "real." Our online presentations are distinct from our in-person presentations, but in general they tend to be consistent and reflections of us, just within a different context. Some things can be very different (there are plenty of online assholes who are a lot less aggro in real life), but things like core values still tend to shine through.