Zippy, I think you might have fallen into the trap of catchy syntax. The infinitive verb "to be" really has no well defined meaning unless you give it context. Some examples:
* Each one of us present a different "face" to different people. I'm a very different person around my family than when I'm around someone I date. Am I myself around my family? Am I myself around my girlfriends? Am I myself on MatchDoctor? Am I myself at work?
* There are multiple contexts of "to be". Being one's self could mean that we understand ourselves and our limitations. For example, I will *not* take that class in astrodynamics. Although I feel like I may be interested in it now, I know I'll never complete the course". I know I shouldn't smoke; I intend to only have one cig, I have an addictive personality and even one can lead to trouble.
We can "be" differently in front of different people. I need to be very cold, very calculational, very precise at work. I can't afford to be anything that approximates a warm human being when I develop models. I need to have great "zeit-fleisch". However, I would never present this side to someone I'm dating.
Suppose you come across a con artist. He cons you into thinking he loves you, and you're sure he's sincere. Before you find out otherwise, is he being himself? Can you trust him? Can you trust him after he showed you his true colours?
There's a question of mismatched temporal comparison and here. The notion of trust is time dependent with "fakes and phones", as you put it. They're perfectly trustworthy until they become untrustworthy, at which point they become untrustworthy. Same with the notion of being.
I think my very favorite quote, ever, is one by Einstein (paraphrased):
You should strive to make everything as simple as possible.
But no simpler.
I think eight words on the question of being might be too simple.
For me. I tend to be slow at times. Maybe I'm thinking about it incorrectly.
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