Authenticity is on the endangered list

Originally written for the Weber Forecast

Remember when sneaking out, chatting to strangers, or simply just texting was just part of life? For today’s crowd, those “low-stakes mischief” days are basically extinct. Why? Because everyone’s got receipts. Between Life360 keeping tabs for parents, Ring cameras watching the block, phones filming everywhere we look and friends ready to screenshot your every typo, there’s hardly a chance to put yourself out there, to be messy, silly, or even to embrace the cringe.​

It feels like our peers are policing us, our devices are documenting us, and now wearable tech like Meta’s smart glasses are taking it up a notch. Livestreaming from your face? Recording hands-free at brunch? Sure, it’s fun to watch from a first-person perspective, but the privacy line is becoming uncomfortably blurry. Influencers getting unknowingly rage baited, a woman discovering her waxer wearing Meta glasses, Reddit threads exposing predatory behaviour, these aren’t isolated incidents, they’re a glimpse of a culture where someone is always watching.​

Nowadays it feels like we’re always on stage, there is a constant pressure to be aware, and even to perform. Fear isn’t just rejection anymore, it’s being immortalised online as “that person.” Does this mean we are losing our unfiltered selves, or just learning to protect ourselves by performing in a world that never stops watching?

Insight: Audiences are looking for a safe space for self-expression. This isn’t about policing behaviour but creating moments where audiences can have fun without fear or judgement.