The fiction of identity: veridiction and the contract of attention in the Netflix show Clickbait

Abstract

The article utilises the analysis of the Netflix show Clickbait to explore cultural shifts in the standard logic of veridiction, which seem to break with the Greimasian model of veridictory modalities to welcome diverse procedures –such as faire semblant and authentication– governing the communication and perception of truth. Rather than a problem affecting only discourses, I aim to argue that the production of subjective identities, both in the physical world and mediated contexts, is also impacted by this change in our relationship with signs. By presenting a dialogue between theories concerned with traditional and emerging mechanisms related to veridiction, the article offers a reflection on the production and deployment of identity, and the blurring of lines between reality, unreality, and fiction, which produces simulacral dynamics shifting the goal of interactions from a sanction- to an attention-oriented model.