Looking around the internet, it's clear that digital representations have become cheap, too perfect, and easily fabricated, and the offline world is increasingly the primary source of confirmation.
It's really interesting to see this happening, because it's not something I would have ever seen coming five years ago. Such a quick reversal of trust and value, where the digital layer loses its default credibility.
Want to know what someone really looks like? Meet them in real life. No filters or AI generated photos there.
Want to see whether they are truly an expert in a topic or as charming as they are online? Hang out in a cafe and ask them questions directly to their face, where they can't ask ChatGPT before replying to your message.
Want to know whether someone really studied, wrote that exam, or is a suitable job candidate? Direct interaction, live problem-solving and in-person demonstrations are the way to go now. Claims of expertise, portfolios, blog posts, code projects, certificates, and even academic records can be fabricated or enhanced by AI online.
Wanna know how that piece of clothing or furniture, or that apartment really looks like? Better go visit in real life so you aren't misled by AI generated images. Physical inspection like trying on clothes, viewing apartments and touching materials is important again. Seeing it in person is becoming a selling point, honestly.
We can see it in art and culture as well: A renaissance of live performances, physical art, analog photography, older or dumbed down devices, and unedited (or uneditable) recordings gain a sort of social currency. They are harder to fake, or fake something on, and imperfection is evidence of authenticity. When almost anything becomes infinitely manipulable via screens, all we have left is avoiding the screen. It's the late-stage consequence of all the simulacra online that already started with the fake lives of influencers, and has increased dramatically with image and text generation.
Baudrillard argued that representations would no longer point to reality, but would replace it1. It seems like right now, those online representations of other people, their achievements, their relationships and possessions are becoming so obviously synthetic that they lose their persuasive power. Social media's hyperreality worked only as long as it was believable, but now we need offline confirmations as a verification layer.
We could call this post-digital authenticity. I know that social media platforms are currently pushing a sort of post-authenticity culture instead, where honesty and truth no longer matters and contrived and fabricated experiences for entertainment (ragebait, AI...) get more attention; but I think many, many people are tired of being constantly lied to, or being unable to trust their senses. I assume that the fascination with the totally fake that some people still have now is shortlived.
This step backwards into the offline feels healing at first, but also hurts, in a way. With all the valid criticisms, the internet still was a rather accessible place to finally find out the truth about events, avoid state censorship, and get to know people differently. It was especially good for the people who could not experience the same offline: People in rural areas, disabled and chronically ill people, queer people living far out and away from their peers, and more. It sucks that while others can and will return to a more authentic offline life, the ones left behind in a wasteland of mimicry are the ones who have always been left out.
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Simulacra and Simulation, 1981.↩