My understanding of authenticity is more the psychological one, although there is overlap with philosophy and art, too. That is, living according to the needs or your inner self, rather than societal conditioning. I have heard it described as taking gratification in “signature strengths,” and I like that phrase quite a bit.

No one will know whether one is truly authentic unless there is some form of sustained connection in which change can be detected. But I think that collective experiences will play a role in our ability as individuals to detect inauthentic behavior. There is some innate sense of that present in any relationship.

It is a fine, but important line between sincerity and manipulation. In Twitter, I have a lower tolerance for the latter.