The #nofilter Self: The Contest for Authenticity among Social Networking Sites, 2002–2016

Abstract

This study traces appeals to authenticity, over time, in the promotional material of leading social-networking sites (SNSs). Using the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, the public-facing websites of major SNS platforms—beginning with Friendster in 2002—were sampled at six-month intervals, with promotional language and visuals examined for authenticity claims. The authors tracked these appeals, with attention to changes in promotional copy, through to July 2016, among the most popular social media services (as determined by English-language web presence and active monthly user figures or, when unavailable, reported network size). The study found that nearly all SNSs invoked authenticity—directly or through language like “real life” and “genuine”—in their promotional materials. What stood out was the profoundly reactive nature of these claims, with new services often defining themselves, openly or implicitly, against legacy services’ inauthenticity. A recurring marketing strategy, in other words, has been to call out competitors’ phoniness by substituting (and touting) some other, differently grounded mode of authenticity. Since the affordances of social sites, even those touting evanescence or anonymity, make them vulnerable to similar charges, the cycle gets replayed with numbing regularity.

“Gaming the System”: Platform Paternalism and the Politics of Algorithmic Visibility

“…Researchers and online users widely understand "authenticity" to be a central organizing principle of social media, despite-or perhaps because of-the staggeringly uneven deployment of the concept across platforms, communities, and practices (e.g., Banet-Weiser, 2012; Duffy & Hund, 2015;Marwick, 2013;Salisbury & Pooley, 2017). Against this backdrop, our data revealed that platforms drew heavily upon the authenticity ideal in delineating legitimate and illegitimate practices of algorithmic optimization.…”

The Semiotics of Authenticity: Indexicality in Donald Trump’s Tweets

“…That's furious, somebody give this guy a Xanex" (Colbert, 2017). This resonates with Salisbury and Pooley's (2017) claim that social media users are "artifice detectives," looking for clues and cues of authenticity. Indexes provide us with evidence for Trump's authenticity, rather than symbolic claims.…”

“…Politicians' appropriation of new technology for these ends has a long history (Horton & Wohl, 1956), and social media companies have gone to great lengths to market themselves as authentic expressive equipment. Salisbury and Pooley (2017) found that major social media platforms are "marinated with authenticity claims," such as a former Twitter CEO's remark that "authenticity is absolutely the key to a great tweet" (quoted in Kim, 2013). Social media's discourse of authenticity is based on the promise that their expressive apparatus-tweets, vlogs, selfies, and so on-allows users to construct an authentic self mediated through various texts.…”

“…Social media's discourse of authenticity is based on the promise that their expressive apparatus-tweets, vlogs, selfies, and so on-allows users to construct an authentic self mediated through various texts. Salisbury and Pooley's (2017) concept of the "#nofilter self" speaks of this ideal: that the successful deployment of features will allow one to present an authentic self to others.…”

Social by definition: How users define social platforms and why it matters

“…In addition to users, platforms also play a role in defining their perceived categories; for example, while Instagram has often concentrated on highlighting its shopping experiences (Instagram, 2018), Snapchat has officially defined itself as a "camera company" (Snapchat, 2017). Moreover, platforms regularly compete for users by branding themselves in contrast to one another, often implying or suggesting that they offer a better social experience than their competitors (Salisbury & Pooley, 2017). Although a full discussion of potential categories linked to the four platforms is beyond the scope of this paper, it is clear all four are evolving in ways that complicate their top-level designations.…”