Liquid Authenticity: From Orwell’s World to the Digital Stage
In George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, the “Ministry of Truth,” which “concerns
itself with the news,” (7), is responsible for propaganda, entertainment, and, most importantly, its
historical alteration. Its main purpose, changing historical events, helps support the constant
changes that the Party makes to its history, so that the new history can maintain accuracy and
manipulate individuals into forgetting the unwanted past.
In our current world, similar to the “Ministry of Truth”, social media is a platform that is
in charge of entertainment and individual representation. As individuals are in charge of how
they present themselves to the rest of the world, this freedom raises the question of whether users
are being honest about their lives or manipulating their reality to work in their favor. This
concern relates to the controversy around mental health issues and misinformation, similar to that
in the book.
This essay argues that while the Orwellian term “Ministry of Truth” can be applied to
modern-day social media for its manipulation of perception, the application of Goffman’s
dramaturgical theory suggests that all forms of presentation are authentic, even if falsifying one's
life or showing only a small portion of it online, making it different from the Ministry.
First, to compare “authenticity” in 1984 and social media, the word must be defined. The
concept of being “real” does not exist in the world of 1984, but only when referring to the past: a
world in which the present is not altered to rewrite the past. The word “real” only comes up in
Winston’s remarks addressing sugar, pistols, and intercommunication, referring to objects and
concepts that existed before the Paty’s interference.
In George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, the “Ministry of Truth,” which “concerns
itself with the news,” (7), is responsible for propaganda, entertainment, and, most importantly, its
historical alteration. Its main purpose, changing historical events, helps support the constant
changes that the Party makes to its history, so that the new history can maintain accuracy and
manipulate individuals into forgetting the unwanted past.
In our current world, similar to the “Ministry of Truth”, social media is a platform that is
in charge of entertainment and individual representation. As individuals are in charge of how
they present themselves to the rest of the world, this freedom raises the question of whether users
are being honest about their lives or manipulating their reality to work in their favor. This
concern relates to the controversy around mental health issues and misinformation, similar to that
in the book.
This essay argues that while the Orwellian term “Ministry of Truth” can be applied to
modern-day social media for its manipulation of perception, the application of Goffman’s
dramaturgical theory suggests that all forms of presentation are authentic, even if falsifying one's
life or showing only a small portion of it online, making it different from the Ministry.
First, to compare “authenticity” in 1984 and social media, the word must be defined. The
concept of being “real” does not exist in the world of 1984, but only when referring to the past: a
world in which the present is not altered to rewrite the past. The word “real” only comes up in
Winston’s remarks addressing sugar, pistols, and intercommunication, referring to objects and
concepts that existed before the Paty’s interference.
