Communication Simulation: On the Development of the Interpersonal Model

The article is devoted to developing an interpersonal model of communicative simulations constituted by a series of communicative practices within which various forms of social interaction are reproduced. The theoretical basis of the work was the study of the concepts of “Model/Simulacrum” and “Mimesis” in philosophy and narratology. The methodological approach proposed within the study was aimed at parameterizing interpersonal interaction in a communicative simulation through establishing the structure of interaction, its participants and the roles they actualize. Based on the model proposed, a typology of communicative simulations was suggested. Three types of communicative simulations were identified: narrative simulation, simulation for entertainment purposes, and falsification. The first type of communicative simulations (the narrative one) is the indirect interaction between the sender of a message (concrete or abstract author, narrator) and its recipient (concrete or abstract reader). The communicative practices of simulations of the first type include ASMR videos and fake news. The second type (simulation for entertainment purposes) involves the interaction of communicants within a fictional world. The participants in the interaction are a particular sender/recipient of a message, an abstract sender/recipient of a message, and avatars (characters). The communicative practices of simulations of the second type include sexting and role-playing games. The third type (falsification of social practice) is the interaction in which one of the participants is unaware of being involved in a communicative simulation. The participants in the interaction are a specific author of the simulation, a specific recipient of the message, an abstract author/recipient of the message, and an avatar, which is a social mask of the author of the simulation. The communicative practices of simulations of the third type include telephone fraud.