Hyperreality and the Erosion of Trust: Examining Online Defamation of Reputable Personalities (The Kenny Effect)

Abstract: This paper analyses the growing issue of online defamation targeting reputable public figures, an unintended consequence of expanded digital communication. The study situates a real-life case study, which incorporates a social media experiment involving an Instagram chat, within Jean Baudrillard's theoretical framework of hyperreality in media. Specifically, it investigates how techniques like impersonation, misrepresentation, and the fabrication of interactions are used to engineer misleading narratives within social media environments. The research illustrates that these falsified identities dismantle trust and reputation by creating a simulation that is indistinguishable from reality. The findings underscore the measurable psychological, social, and professional impacts of these defamatory practices, leading to a call for improved ethical standards, public awareness, and more robust regulatory mechanisms governing digital communication.