What does real even mean anymore? This is a similar situation to live music and recorded music. Even pre COVID, most of the music we listen to is recorded. There are a number of aspects of recorded music that make it different:

• “Perfection”. Multiple takes can be composited together to remove any “mistakes”.
• Microphones placed where we couldn’t possibly get our ears.
• Recording technology allows the creation of sounds not feasible live, sped up vocals, for example.
• The recording studio allows for a viewpoint not feasible in a live situation, that is, not everyone can stand in the same spot.

Yet, for all this, it doesn’t mean recorded music isn’t compelling, as Ralph Gleason said “If the music makes it, it doesn’t matter how it got there”.

Social media is facilitating something that was never feasible live. The lines between fact and fiction have been blurring since the outset. So what do these fake accounts mean? They’re works of fiction, so that is the standard by which people appear to be judging them, do they tell a compelling and relatable story?

Being authentic and relatable remains good advice, even when writing fiction. Is the character behaving like they care about motorcycles? Apparently so. Yet, for motorcycle guy, there will be no “live performances” in the way there might be for Gary V.

That’s the price they pay.