A strange thing happens when you spend enough time online.
You start feeling like you know people you've never met.
You know what they eat. Where they travel. What podcasts they listen to. What they think about the latest news.
You know their routines, their opinions, and sometimes even their dogs' names.
But do you actually know them?
Probably not.
The internet has given us unprecedented access to people's lives. Yet, somehow, genuine understanding feels as elusive as ever.
We've become experts at broadcasting ourselves. Not necessarily at revealing ourselves.
Every profile is a collection of moments. A carefully assembled trail of thoughts, achievements, photos, updates, and opinions. Individually, they're all real. Together, they create a version of a person.
But a version is not the whole person.
“You can follow someone for five years and still have no idea what keeps them awake at night.”
What they're afraid of. What they've sacrificed. What they're struggling to become.
The things that shape us most rarely fit into a post.
What's interesting is that the internet has changed the incentive.
In the past, being known required proximity. You had to spend time with people. Conversations had to happen. Trust had to be earned.
Today, visibility often arrives before connection.
People can recognise your face, know your work, and follow your journey without ever truly knowing you.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. Visibility creates opportunities. It helps ideas spread. It allows people to build communities beyond geography.
But visibility and connection are different currencies. One is measured in reach. The other is measured in depth. And depth still takes time.
Perhaps that's why many people feel both connected and lonely at the same time.
We're surrounded by updates from hundreds of people, yet meaningful relationships remain surprisingly rare.
The internet solved the problem of being seen.
The challenge of being understood remains exactly where it has always been.
In conversation, trust, vulnerability, and time.
Some things still don't scale.
Being known is one of them.