Consumer Society and Identity Formation on Social Media: Baudrillard’s Theoretical Reflection

Abstract

This paper critically analyses how identity is formed on social media through Jean Baudrillard’s theories of simulation and simulacra, framing digital selfhood within the context of consumer society. Platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Facebook are viewed as hyperreal environments where users curate selective lifestyles and consumption practices. In these spaces, users embedded their self-presentations within symbolic systems shaped by commercial influences and algorithmic logic. From a Baudrillardian perspective, identity is not an authentic expression, but rather a simulation, an assemblage of signs increasingly detached from lived experience. However, this study also acknowledges counterarguments that challenge Baudrillard’s deterministic view. Drawing on Stuart Hall's Reception Theory, it highlights users’ agency in negotiating meaning, strategically performing authenticity, and incorporating local cultural values into digital practices. This suggests that while social media may intensify simulation, it also serves as a contested space where representation is actively shaped and reinterpreted. By integrating Baudrillard's critique with reception-oriented perspectives, this narrative review contributes to media and visual communication scholarship by addressing the intersection of hyperreality and user agency in digital cultures.