Introduction
This manuscript presents a blend of the concepts of
simulation, simulacra, and hyperreality (Baudrillad, 1999) with the formation
of a real virtual culture (Castells, 2010, p.355). Network societies are the
result of networks of various organizational dimensions and social practices
(Castells, 2010). The emergence of the internet network led to the expansion of
the internet which resulted in no longer limiting the internet to human life.
�Mass-self communication� is a term coined by Castells with the intention of
new media that have information-sharing features that have the potential to reach
audiences personally. This is what sparked Castells' idea that a new culture
was formed, namely the "culture of real virtuality".
This culture is formed from a communication network that
is inclusive of all cultural expressions and individual experiences so that
something virtual (virtual) becomes an important dimension of human reality.
From the utilitarian view, the existence of the internet, social media makes it
easier for many people to communicate with each other. In contrast to
postmodernism's view, it seems that the relationship between social media and
the individual is complicated. The development of communication technology
affects the simulation process occurs. Social media causes individuals to stay
away from reality. They flocked to create a new world, namely virtual reality
(virtual reality).
Technology and media have the power to produce, reproduce
signs and objects (Baudrillard, 1999). Therefore, reality has nothing in common
with what is represented. This simulacra concept also occurs on Instagram
social media which also requires interaction. In interacting there is an
identification process to create a pseudo-reality.
The author wants to briefly explain why Instagram is
important to research. Instagram is a favorite social media. Instagram
periodically improves the available features such as photos, comments, live
videos, and so on. This is what is meant as the formation of interaction. This
opportunity is of interest to like content that is referred to as 'instagramable'.
This opportunity is also used as a way of marketing to promote. The meaning of
the word Instagram comes from the name of the application itself. The word able
in English means capable. So instagrambale means something worthy to be
uploaded to Instagram. The power of Instagram is connected to various
e-commerce platforms, and users spend a lot of time playing Instagram.
At first, there were no proper criteria to call photo or
video uploads instagramable. However, this marketing strategy is used by entrepreneurs
and captured by the virtual community who constructs that instagramable is the
creativity of users to make their posts more interesting with the help of
several posts or photo editing applications in interesting spots to be used as
photo backgrounds, to maximize the results of these posts (https
http://tekno.tempo.co/read/1443132/ramai-pemakai-instagram-term-instagramable-pun-muncul/full&view=ok)
This thought led the author to relate the concepts of
simulation, simulacra, and hyperreality. Simulation is humans inhabiting
reality. The difference between real and fake, real and imaginary lies in
almost non-existent boundaries. Simulation ignores reality or categories such
as true or false, real or fictitious, production or reproduction blend into one.
This mingling becomes a reality that humans live. This mixing is called
simulacra (Baudrilllard, 1999).
�� Based on the two concepts of Castells and Baudrillard,
the author realizes that in the present and the future humans will expand the
communication network. Humans cannot be separated from the use of technology.
Dependence on this technology will lead humans to virtual reality.
Baudrillard's thinking supports the fact that technology will help humans
perform simulations to hyperreality, where something virtual becomes more
original and real than the actual reality.
�� This knowledge supports the author's observations in
seeing how Instagram users display something called "instagramable".
The author invites readers to think critically about how simulacra concerning
hyperreality are formed in Instagram. The development is so fast. One
interesting phenomenon is the fake charm of 'selfie' photos. Users can easily
take advantage of the features on Instagram to make themselves more attractive.
Just one click can make their faces look smooth and slim. This digital
polishing phenomenon shows that there is a sign of beauty and perfection. So
many people do 'like'. Then, the 'like' given by other people becomes an
addiction to repeat this scam.
'Instagramable' isn't just about self-portraits.
'Instagramable' includes the habit of polishing photos or videos before they
are uploaded that strays from reality. The filters provided reflect the
perfection of the physical and the surrounding environment. Such as, skin whitening,
lip coloring, jaw shaper, nose shaper, brightening photos, creating an elegant
atmosphere, and so on. The author is moved to examine this phenomenon more
deeply using Jean Baudrillard's thoughts on hyperreality. What users have
uploaded and trusted by other users, has taken the responsibility of the value
of honesty. This simulation shows that there is a shift in the meaning of
freedom to fake oneself.
This hyperreality culture is a free commodity that can
lead the audience to the opium to display far from reality. The strange thing
is, being free to express themselves here is not free to be what they are, but
to shape themselves as they want to intend to produce content as a commodity
that has value for the sake of the existence of social and economic climbing.
Users use Ome Tv as social media to construct the truth according to the tastes
of the actors concerned. Simulacra was formed through the help of the internet
network. The languages created by these actors are codes to realize a belief
system. Based on this background, the author will investigate how Instagram
users as actors construct 'instagrambale' through the concepts of simulation,
simulacra, and hyperreality.
Method
This study uses qualitative research "Qualitative
research begins with assumptions and the use of interpretive/theoretical
frameworks that inform the study of research problems addressing the meaning
individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem (Creswell, 2013).
Qualitative research emphasizes the process and meaning of reality without any
measurement of quantity or frequency (Neuman, 2003). This study uses a
phenomenological approach (Damayanti, 2019). The researcher argues that this
approach will describe the general meaning of Instagram users who like to
polish photos or videos that become 'instagramable'.
This method helps to describe the process of producing
content on Instagram, from taking photos or videos, editing, to the decision to
upload photos or videos. This study collects data using interview and documentation
methods. Sampling using a purposive sampling technique. This sampling technique
aims to investigate Instagram users who routinely upload content and make edits
before uploading it. The analysis technique uses a data reduction model, data
presentation, conclusion drawing, and data verification.
This research method uses a dramaturgical study by Erving
Goffman (1959) from his book entitled "presentation of self in everyday
life". Dramaturgy emphasizes that humans do drama when interacting
socially, which in the end leads to social change. This thinking is in line
with the changing human phenomenon in uploading photos or videos. Images
uploaded on Instagram have been influenced by filters that humans are addicted
to doing. Instagram users seem to be in a drama show, they must prepare their
appearance well. The author will use this theory to observe the front and
backstage (Goffman, 1959), so that he can see the authenticity and fakeness of
�instagramable� images.
Results
And Discussion
The author wants to emphasize the three core ideas of
Baudrillard, namely simulation, simulacra, and hyperreality (Baudrillard,
1999). The difference between the three is that simulation means an imitation
or an artificial reality which still refers to real reality. Baudrillard also
states that simulation opposes representation. Representation comes from the
principle of equality of sign and real. The opposite simulation derives from
the utopia of the equivalence principle, from the radical negation of the sign
as value (p.9).
The second is simulacra, meaning that artificial reality
no longer refers to the real reality because the real reality has been closed
from its reference (semi-reality). The third is hyperreality which calls
reality real (real). Hyperreality is a deconstruction of the previous real
reality. The emphasis on the different phases of simulacra and hyperreality,
namely on the hyperreality of everything in real reality, has been replaced in
virtual reality.
1.
How The Instagram User construct
�Instagramable�
Instagram is the perfect social media for
understanding real and simulacrum relationships. The interactions that occur on
Instagram are just to show what they are doing. This activity is to get
something intangible such as getting "likes" or comments. Another
interaction occurs when engagement occurs while scrolling through the feed and
viewing all photos and videos. Interaction occurs with those photos and videos.
Instagram is a space where the
hyperreality of the appearance of photos or videos is formed. The author
concludes from the observation that the hyperreality that occurs on Instagram
is the effect of diminishing direct interaction between individuals. So that
the virtual world or pseudo-reality is considered real. Instagram is not just a
representation of human life, but a reality.
Based on research on how humans find
interesting backgrounds, make photos of food that look better, use filters that
make them look more appealing than they are. Therefore, something that happens
on Instagram looks more real than reality itself. In these contents, Instagram
users form hyperreality. Someone showcases the best they have to share on
Instagram. The appearance of someone uploaded to Instagram is not necessarily
the same as the actual appearance. This is what is often referred to as 'instagramable'.
Instagram users perform simulations that
appear as if they are real, but they are not. The hyperreality they display to
look 'instagramable' includes an attractive physical appearance (looking
beautiful or handsome), good and expensive clothes, and social and economic
climbing. The author concludes that what is displayed by Instagram users is an
attempt to show the existence of social class in society. Efforts that force
themselves to present themselves as perfect, even though they do not happen in
real life.
2.
Simulation, Simulacra, and Hyperreality
The focus of this section is to
investigate how Jean Baudrillard helps us as academics to rethink the human
habit of polishing photos and videos. These behaviors are addictive. They
cannot escape the virtual life to continue creating hyper-reality content.
These imaginations lead us to believe they are real (Baudrillard, 1994).
Uploaded photos and those that have been edited using filters and taking
pictures with styles that have been arranged in such a way are simulations.
Simulation is not a place, area, or
existence, but a model of reality and how to make us think about how reality is
produced (Baudrillard, 1999, p.2). The concept of simulation is used to
evaluate how users create �illusions, which are called reality simulations.
Simulation makes the real reality blurry. Simulation makes the real reality
collapse or is replaced with a false one. The depictions on Instagram are the
result of production and reproduction into their reality.
This description is different or
contradictory. Instagrammable photos and videos seduce audiences by pretending
they have something they don't have. The photos and videos do not accurately
represent what is depicted. For example, when informants take photos of themselves,
photos of food, or other objects, it may not have anything to do with reality.
Especially when it comes to the description of the written image. When taking
photos of food, edited with filters distort reality and falsehood.
The author believes that the photos and
videos that have been edited are only simulated images, there is no truth.
Humans live in falsehoods and replicas of what the world is (Baudrillard,
1999). Instagram distorts our perspective so that users are no longer able to
see the real reality. What is happening now is indeed a very thin line between
reality and the signs of users who show themselves and real life, with those in
simulation. This blending is simulacra. The meaning of simulacra is a world
that is built from a mixture of values, facts, signs, images, and codes. A
world that is built from a mixture of values, facts, signs, images, and codes
(Baudrillard, 1999). Reality, imitation, or fake does not refer to real
reality. In other words, the original reality is distorted and closed from its
true reference.
The polishing of photos and videos that
occur on Instagram is pseudo. In other words, Instagram users perform
simulations. The 'instagramable' interaction that is shown to the audience,
which is not what it is, is what is called simulacra. The author concludes that
simulacra are a lie from signs or images constructed by humans which are far
from the original reality. This thinking is based on the communication
phenomenon that humans are currently competing to construct a new identity
reality on Instagram.
������� The author will analyze through
four stages of simulacra and simulation (Baudrillard, 1999), namely first, the
reflection of a profound reality or "the sacramental order", meaning
that the picture is a good appearance. At this stage, the simulation has not
occurred. According to Baudrillard, the image still begins as a good
representation of reality. For example, when 'instagramable' photos and videos
are uploaded to Instagram, it cannot be considered a simulation. This is because
it could be the image is the original picture of reality. For example, when an
Instagram user takes a self-portrait which is an original picture of himself,
then the picture is a reflection of a deep reality (Badurillard, 1999, p.6).
The second is the �it masks and denatures
a profound reality� phase. This phase is a deviation from reality. In this
phase, they believe that the sign is an unfaithful copy. Reality is an
"evil appearance" where signs and images are not the same express
reality. In the process of polishing photos and images to make them look
'instagramable', users can manipulate images. Users use image settings to
improve the displayed photo or video. At this stage, the simulation begins to
materialize where there is a slight deviation from reality.
The author analyzes that the second stage
occurs, for example, when users take photos of themselves but choose to add
filters or edit photos. This is what Baudrillard called that the image is no
longer a direct copy of reality. This image becomes a copy of the image of the
unfaithful, the meaning of unfaithfulness is that the self-image is no longer
the same. The self-portrait is still clearly similar to the original but has
been polished. So there is already a distortion from the initial image.
The third is �it masks the absence of a
profound reality�. At this stage, the image completely covers the original
image or reality. Those 'instagramable' photos or videos become copies without
authenticity. The mark pretends to be a copy of the same but is not the
original. The author explains this third stage with an example when a user
uploads a photo of himself to Instagram but decides to change the contrast,
exposure, brightness, warmth, highlight, and others (available in the edit
feature). The photo itself is no longer the same as reality. Self-image has
changed from the original self-image.
This third stage leads to the idea that
there is no representation. Manipulation of photos and videos when using
filters or editing has created a new reality of images. The emphasis is that
the uploaded self is no longer anywhere else. In other words, users who take
photos of themselves are no longer the same as photos of themselves uploaded to
Instagram. The photos become instagramable, but the photos have no reference.
The fourth stage is �it has no relation
to any reality whatsoever; it is its pure simulacrum�. This stage is referred
to as the "order of sorcery", where all human meanings are
artificially conjured up to appear as references to truth (Baudrillard, 1999).
The author calls this a pure simulation. User-uploaded self-portraits have no
relation to reality at all. This fourth phase explains that an image reflects
another image. This image becomes its reality. In summary, the picture in the
fourth phase is very different from the picture in the first phase.
Images can no longer be trusted because
they are fake. The image is a hoax from the real thing. The image becomes as if
new. The new image becomes a reality, not even realizing that there is the same
image in place again. This blurred image is referred to as a false image and a
pure simulation. The phenomenon that occurs on Instagram is when individuals
experience interactivity such as using artist face filters, mask filters, and
so on. Then the users seem to be an artist or something different from
themselves. This is called hyperreality.
The author argues that talking about
simulacra is not talking about a reflection of reality or not a representative
of the initial sign. But it has become a new sign. After the simulacra stage
which has no relation to any reality is hyperreality. Hyperreality is a reality
that is completely real, even above the real. This reality will eventually
replace the previous real reality. In 'instagramable' photos and videos, it is
a deconstruction of real reality. The reality that is displayed on Instagram is
very different from the self or something that exists. The process of simulacra
in photos and videos is more than just a process.
Virtual engineering through the provided
filters undermines reality. This virtual reality takes over the real life of
humans. The difference between the stages of simulacra and hyperreality is in
the interactive characteristics (Baudrillard, 1999). In the simulation and
simulacra phases, there is no interactivity, that is, activities that normally
can be done in real life can now be done.
3.
The Dilemma
These human efforts can change the
character of communication and can shape a culture that becomes a belief system
through the integration of text, images, and sounds (Castells, 2010). The
internet network can distribute information while Instagram users construct
their reality. In social media, identity becomes fluid and changing (Nasrullah,
2015, p.77). Uploading photos and videos that are 'Instagramable' allows
individuals to be anyone, even away from reality.
Through an 'instagramble' discussion with
Baudrillard's lens, the author argues that Instagram can turn everyone into a
kind of simulacrum. Instagram is a social media that is useful for building interactions
with other people. However, 'instagramable' can construct a culture of
displaying something fake. In addition, blurring the original social class has
an impact on unclear status or loss of identity. When users claim falsehood, it
means they have constructed other people's thoughts to always see only the best
side, even though this is not necessarily true and real. 'Instagramable'
obscures social class.
The author emphasizes the argument about
how important this effect is on oneself and how to interpret identity through
'instagramable' photos or videos. The blurred hyperreality makes the lines of
online and offline identity unidentifiable.
Conclusion
Users polish or edit photos and videos to look perfect.
Photos and videos uploaded on Instagram are often called 'Instagramable'.
Contents like this show the state of the collapse of reality. Instagram users
take over reality by replacing it with virtual engineering which is considered
more real than real reality. This shows that the awareness of something real is
replaced with a pseudo-reality. This condition strengthens the formation of
imagination because content creation is done many times. The signs that are
formed are far from reality.
The way to uncover the reality that occurs in
"instagramable" uploads, researchers observe the dramaturgy process,
namely the front and backstage. Then analyze using the thinking of Jean
Baudrillard. Researchers used four stages, including reflection of a profound
reality, it masks and denatures a profound reality, it masks the absence of a
profound reality, it has no relation to any reality whatsoever; it is its pure
simulacrum. In the first stage, uploading photos and videos is still the same
as the original. In the second stage, the image does not resemble the original
by using a filter. The third stage, when users start using the edit feature by
changing contrast, exposure, brightness, warmth, highlights, and others. The
fourth stage is when the user uses artist face filters, mask filters, and so
on.
Simulacra describe photo and image simulations on
Instagram. Users present �instagramable� photos and videos in unclear places
where they are simulated. This is because there is a process or a series of
stages to polish, change it through the features that are integrated into the
application. Instagram is no longer showing reality. Instagram has become a
reality itself. What's on Instagram is more real than reality itself.
Instagram reality is a simulation result. The author
argues that it is difficult to state an "instagramable" photo or
video at what stage of the simulation. The author argues that simulation is
more than a process that becomes a simulacrum. The concept of simulation,
simulation, and hyperreality from Jeab Badurillard helps us as academics to
interpret that Instagram is a medium to create hyperreality. The results of
this study give us insight that the "instagramable" simulation is a
state of imagination that is not entirely true or not true.
References
Baudrilllard, J and Foss, P. (1983). Simulations. New York
: Semiotext
Baudrillard, J. (1993, [1976]). Symbolic Exchange and
Death. trans. I. H. Grant London: SAGE.
Baudrillard, J. (1999). Simulacra and simulation
(Translated by Sheila Faria Glaser). Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan
Press
Castells, Manuel. (2010). The. Rise of the Network
Society. Wiley-Blackwell Publication
Creswell W. John. 2013. Research Design Pendekatan
Kualitatif, Kuantitatif, dan. Mixed. Yogyakarta : Pustaka Pelajar.
Damayanti, N and Hidayat, M. Aginta. (2019). Hyperreality
Of Social Media: A Phenomenology Study of Self Confession of Housewives of
Facebook Users. The Journal of Society and Media 2019, Vol. 3(2) 261-277
Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in
Everyday Life. Doubleday Anchor: Garden City, New York
Haryatmoko (2016) �Jean Baudrillard: Masyarakat
Konsumeris: Manipulasi Tanda dan� Hiperrealitas�, dalam Membongkar Rezim
Kepastian, Pemikiran Kritis Post-Strukturalis, Yogyakarta: Kanisius
Haryono, C. Gatot. (2020). Kepalsuan Hidupdalamhiperrealitas
Iklan (The Falsehood of Life in Advertising Hyperreality).� Profetik Jurnal
Komunikasi
Lane, Richard J.(2000), Jean Baudrillard, New York &
London: Routledge.
https://tekno.tempo.co/read/1443132/ramai-pemakai-instagram-istilah-instagramable-pun-muncul/full&view=ok
Neuman. W Lawrence. 2006. Social Research Methods Sixth
Edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
