See the slide show by Michael Wesch, "The Machine is (Changing) Us: YouTube Culture and the Politics of Authenticity."

"Recent discussion of some user-generated material on the Internet has argued that its 'freshness' and 'spontaneity' offers a new form of 'authenticity' in mediated communication. With a focus on YouTube, particularly where extensive use is made of the facility to post text comments on vlogs, it has been suggested that such activities reproduce the feel of 'face-to-face communication.'"[cit]

"LonelyGirl15 is an example of authenticity or lack thereof, as her vlogs helped shape how vloggers define authentic and inauthentic, despite the ability to create new identities, enviroments, and so forth."[cit]