[gilbetron]

You only see the good online for the most part. In person, when they tell you about the amazing vacation, you hear about how their kid cried all the way on the 6 hour flight and how the wife got sick while over there. When they tell you about the new job, they also tell you how even though it is going great, they don't know about their new coworker that is being really annoying.

Online is 99% the good stuff (or the controversial stuff), in real life it is more nuanced and complex. I saw a bunch of relatives recently that I hadn't seen in about 4 years. I have 2 cousins that have kids that I see in pictures playing together all the time, and it makes me happy, but a bit guilty because my only child was born at a time where there are no cousins around his age. Turns out there's a bunch of stress in the relationship because the two groups of kids fight more than play.

Another cousin stayed in the corner, because he's a major MAGA guy and didn't want to interact with the more liberal rest of the group, obvious from his Facebook posts. Except that isn't the case at all, he's actually still divorcing his wife I thought he divorced 4 years ago, fighting a custody battle, and dealing with an injury where his company doesn't believe is worth him being off work for. Again, nuance and complexity adds humanity.