Communication Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-19-2026
Abstract
The proliferation of generative AI and algorithmic curation has created an authenticity crisis, as audiences struggle to distinguish genuine human expression from computationally optimized performance. This study challenges the assumption that algorithmic mediation is categorically unlike previous mediated communication by comparing it with Korean celebrity “drunk talk shows” on YouTube, where alcohol mediates on-camera disclosure. Integrating Goffman’s performance theory, Spence’s signaling theory, and Bishop’s algorithmic folk theories, the study introduces the transparency laboratory: a methodological logic using overt, consented mediation to reveal strategic dynamics concealed by opaque, non-consented algorithmic mediation. A qualitative, illustrative analysis of five purposively selected episodes grounds the framework without claiming representativeness or statistical evidence. The study also proposes a five-stage model of algorithmic genre normalization as a testable theoretical framework, rather than an established empirical finding. Its contributions are threefold: theoretically, the transparency laboratory offers a transferable methodological logic; conceptually, authenticity is reframed as shaped by optimization logics rather than a binary property of expression; practically, governance should target mediating agent incentives rather than individual authenticity.
Recommended Citation
Lim, Young Joon, and Jennifer Lemanski. "The Transparency Laboratory: A Comparative Framework for Mediated Authenticity in Chemical and Algorithmic Disclosure." The Journal of Society and Media 10, no. 2 (2026): 341-364. https://doi.org/10.26740/jsm.v10n2.p341-364
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Publication Title
The Journal of Society and Media
DOI
10.26740/jsm.v10n2.p341-364
Comments
Licensed under Creative Commons attribution-noncommercial 4.0 international