A Simulated Archaeology of Hyperreal Knowledge. Foucault and Baudrillard in the Age of Facebook

Abstract

The present paper is an inquiry into the contemporary definitions of identity, perception, knowledge and reality in the virtual environment, focusing on the case-study of social media and the metamorphosis that these concepts are going through. Definitions are dissected under the magnifying lenses provided by theorists like Michel Foucault and Jean Baudrillard, attempting to highlight the norms of discourse within the realm of the online.

Keywords: social media, discourse, knowledge, simulation, hyperreality