The art of falsifying

Abstract: Top politicians are increasingly using social media to create perceptions of authenticity but social media challenges taken-for-granted notions of authenticity, as people cannot see who is the creator of the perceived authenticity. Applying a grounded theory approach, this study conducted in-depth interviews with communication advisors assigned to Danish top politicians and developed a theory of how communication advisors can use social media to create perceived authenticity of top politicians. Most existing studies on the concept of authenticity agree that it is a socially constructed concept but they have difficulties detaching themselves from an essentialism value system, assuming that authenticity is ontologically present. To avoid being caught in such essentialism thinking, this study drew on theoretical perspectives by Jean Baudrillard and Umberto Eco. The results suggest that in order to create perceived authenticity, communication advisors have to understand and be able to connect with the code of the audience in a convincing way because authenticity is not a matter of who creates it but how well it meets the audience’s expectations. It is also suggested that communication advisors may even be better at creating perceived authenticity of politicians than politicians themselves. This thesis thus contributes to the current body of knowledge and public relations practice with an explanation of the concept of authenticity that transcends the dominating essentialism assumptions and the typical dichotomy of authenticity and inauthenticity.