Facebook Chief Operating
Officer Sheryl Sandberg proclaims, “You can’t be on Facebook without being your
authentic self” (Kirkpatrick 210). ...What
is authenticity anyway?
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Authenticity definition meme created by Sonja
Parison using imgflip.
Authenticity Definition (Wikipedia, 2016).
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Rousseau suggested that “authenticity is derived from the
natural self, whereas inauthenticity is a result of external influences”. Contrast with philosopher Martin Heidegger’s (1889-1976) post humanist
perspective that “authenticity
is choosing the nature of one's existence and identity.” (Yacobi, 2016). Pine would argue that “as long
as we are authentic people, every experience is authentic, the degree of
stimulus creating the experience varies only in matters of degree (not kind) between
the natural and artificial, but there is no such thing as 100% natural anymore”
(Pine, 2016).
As a post humanist, I agree with Heidigger and Pine, I argue that
authenticity is a relative concept, it is highly subjective and contextual in
nature. Authenticity is achieved by having contact with external influences (stimuli)
whilst choosing what to assimilate into our existence and identity. The interesting part of the argument then, is
whether or not authenticity of the self depends not only upon the human
experience derived, but also upon the nature of stimulus that creates the “authentic”
experiences that we choose to assimilate.
If we look at Facebook
as being a corporation that offers a consumer experience economy, then of course
Facebook wants consumers to perceive it as offering an “authentic experience”,
the cater to “the new consumer sensibility” (Pine, 2016). As Pine argues “It’s a paradox, no business
can offer an authentic experience”. Pine’s
comments may be typified by the presence of corporate conventions governing how
our Facebook profiles are our structured, so that information included in
profiles elicits performances of the self by
establishing “community norms for participation” (McNeil, 2012,p 68). Furthermore, authenticity
is even more artificially imposed by
the EdgeRank algorithm which attempts to “render authenticity of experience” (Pine,
2016) by performing functions such as customising our newsfeeds to our
interests or encouraging activities to foster connection (McNeil, 2012, p. 77). These algorithms shape an imagined networked
narrative in which we are encouraged to connect with people, to participate in
their stories and likewise they are encouraged to participate in ours. Meanwhile, the algorithm filters and clears “uninteresting”
stories from our feeds to make space for paid advertising fulfilling the corporate
money making agenda (Baer, 2016).
Facebook is the ultimate public Panopticon with
1.71 Billion active users ("Facebook users
worldwide 2016", 2016), it might be fair to say that even
without the presence of such algorithms “being under constant observation and
scrutiny at best inhibits authenticity, and at worst makes it nearly impossible.”
(Yacobi, 2016). However, with the
relentless shaping of virtual world by corporate convention and software
influencing our every move, is it even possible for we humans to narrate our
own biographies anymore or have we been authored by the machine all along? Is
it an even less of an authentic experience when we acknowledge that such artificial
algorithms exist but chose to do nothing about them?
You decide...
