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The SSENSE of Authenticity
Individual
critical
In "the ssense of authenticity" writer Nabi Williams explores the concept of authenticity in the digital age, particularly through analyzing the canadian fashion e-tailer ssense and its popular Instagram account. posting daily on the social media platform, ssense draws from contemporary culture through its use of language, image layout, and cultural references to create promotional content that exists on the thin line between “authentic meme” and marketing material. by investigating this account and social media’s impact on how authenticity is manufactured, communicated, and perceived, this thesis traces how the concept of authenticity has evolved and argues that we now live in a “post-authentic” world, where storytelling and the “authentically inauthentic” reign supreme in place of sincerity and reality.
“The reality is that “authenticity” holds no value. But then again, who wants to engage in reality?”
06.11.24