"Proving you're human" is a YC topic for 2026. I think it's also the biggest problem on forums.
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Y Combinator listed "Proving You're Human" as one of its topics for Fall 2026. And I've been thinking about how this applies to building in public.
The guidelines on Product Hunt explicitly say no AI-generated comments. "Our community wants to talk to and hear from real people." But the harder question is: how do you prove you're real when everyone's performing authenticity?
The "raw" updates. The "vulnerable" posts. The "here's me being honest" threads. At some point, all of it starts to feel like a performance of authenticity rather than the real thing.
How do you tell the difference between someone being genuinely honest and someone performing honesty? And have you ever caught yourself performing instead of just being real?
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Not sure about the build in public culture over here tbh, but going by normal instinct, with SaaS I'd feel safer if a proper company is behind it rather than one person. I'd probably pay 20% more for a product from a company I trust. On social media I think most people are performing at least a bit, for all kinds of reasons. I went through a phase like that too, but these days I just post honestly.
do you think people can still be genuinely authentic online or does social media always turn it into a perfomance
Do you think consistency over time is a better sign of someone being genuine than one really “honest” post?