Well, there are some people who are actually influencing other people. Trey Ratcliff is a perfect example of someone like that. He has opinions and talks about things going on in the world that he feels like are important and influential to him, and in return some people are influenced by that. Nothing wrong with that.
But I tend to agree with you that a lot of what passes for an actual person online often is just wishful artifacts of what is an actual person. We very rarely allow our darker demons and uglier inner thoughts to filter through online. We naturally show mostly the best of ourselves, which of course has very little to do with who you really are. The older I get the less intrested I am in associating with people who only feel comfortable revealing the best sides of themselves. The ugly sides, the darker sides, that humanity, is far more interesting and relevant and truthful to me. And that's what I'm intrested in. Its very hard to ever get that online. Heck, its hard to get that in person. But that's what I'm in search of and interested in investing time in.