In an era where truth feels increasingly malleable, the smartphone touchscreen serves as both portal and perpetrator. As we swipe, tap, and scroll through endless feeds, we are not merely consuming information—we are being instrumentalized by it. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s concept of “regimes of truth,” this study explores how social media has democratized information creation and circulation, transforming us into unwitting influencers in a post-truth landscape. Here, truth is no longer a stable fact but an impression, shaped by power dynamics and amplified by the intimate psychology of touch. By psychoanalyzing the touchscreen interface, we uncover its role in facilitating the spread of fake news, half-truths, and falsehoods, while underscoring the urgent need for ethical standards among content creators.
Foucault’s Regimes of Truth in the Digital Age
Michel Foucault described a “regime of truth” as the historically contingent mechanisms that determine what counts as true within a society—linking knowledge inextricably to power. These regimes are not neutral; they are systems that produce, regulate, and circulate discourses that “function as true” in specific contexts. In pre-digital times, truth was often gate kept by institutions like academia, media, or the state. Today, in what has been dubbed the post-truth era, social media platforms have shattered these gates, democratizing information to an unprecedented degree.
This shift aligns with Foucault’s ideas, where truth emerges not from objective reality but from the interplay of power relations. On platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook , Youtube and TikTok, anyone can become a producer of “truth.” Influencers, armed with smartphones, craft narratives that gain legitimacy through likes, shares, and algorithms rather than rigorous verification. The result? Truth becomes an impression, a fleeting sensation amplified by the masses. We have uncritically joined this regime, subjecting ourselves to its whims, as Foucault warned: knowledge and power are co-constitutive, and in the digital realm, power flows through our fingertips.
In this new regime, the explosion of post-truth—exemplified by events like election interference or conspiracy theories—thrives because social media rewards engagement over accuracy.
The Psychoanalysis of Touch: Intimacy and Instrumentalization
To grasp how we are ensnared in this regime, we must psychoanalyze the touchscreen itself—the interface that mediates our encounter with “truth.” Touchscreens are not passive tools; they engage us on a deeply psychological level, fostering a sense of ownership and immediacy that blurs the line between self and device. Interacting via touch increases psychological ownership, making users feel more connected to the content they encounter. This haptic intimacy—vibrations, swipes, and responsive feedback—mimics human touch, triggering emotional reflexes and simulating vivid mental experiences.
From a psychoanalytic perspective, inspired by Freudian and Lacanian ideas of desire and the Other, the touchscreen acts as a seductive mirror. It reflects our desires back at us, instrumentalizing us as extensions of the device. As we touch the screen, we are touched in return—haptics create a feedback loop that heightens sensory bias, prioritizing immediate impressions over critical reflection. This dissociation from reality creates a barrier between the self and direct experience, fostering a virtual self that craves constant validation. Smartphones exploit this, stimulating anxiety and addiction through dopamine-driven notifications, turning us into compulsive sharers in the post-truth machine.
In essence, the touchscreen instrumentalizes us by making interaction effortless and intimate. We become tools for the algorithm, our touches propagating content without pause for verification. This echoes Foucault’s power-knowledge nexus: the device empowers us to create “truth” while subjecting us to its regime, where the act of touching reinforces uncritical participation.
Touch’s Role in Spreading Fake News, Half-Truths, and Falsehoods
The psychology of touch exacerbates the spread of misinformation in profound ways. Mobile interfaces, with their seamless swiping mechanics, lower barriers to sharing, enabling rapid dissemination of fake news. The ease of a single tap—retweeting, liking, or forwarding—bypasses cognitive filters, turning half-truths into viral “impressions” that masquerade as facts.
Algorithms prioritize engaging content, often amplifying sensational falsehoods via touch-optimized feeds. The touchscreen’s immediacy fosters paranoia and indifference to authenticity, eroding trust in a post-modern haze where everything is questionable. As Foucault might argue, this is the regime at work—power circulates through our touches, producing “truths” that serve agendas, from state interference to corporate profits as well as political interests .
Influencer Culture and the Democratization of Deception
Social media’s democratization has birthed influencer culture, where ordinary users wield extraordinary power in shaping regimes of truth. Anyone with a smartphone can curate content, but the touchscreen’s allure encourages performative authenticity over substance. We “jump in” as influencers, chasing impressions in a system that rewards virality. Yet, this empowerment is illusory; we are subjected to the platform’s logic, where touch facilitates uncritical joining of echo chambers.
In this regime, half-truths flourish because contradictions “don’t matter”—a direct outgrowth of postmodern deconstruction.
The Imperative for Ethics Among Content Creators
Amid this chaos, ethics must reclaim center stage. Content creators bear a moral duty to combat misinformation, as platforms’ moderation is often insufficient. Ethical standards demand transparency, fact-checking, and accountability—correcting errors, disclosing biases, and prioritizing harm reduction. Users, too, share responsibility: mindful touching—pausing before sharing—can slow disinformation’s spread.
Without ethics, the touchscreen’s intimacy becomes a vector for deception. Creators must embrace Foucault’s critique not as license for relativism but as a call to interrogate power in their content.
Reclaiming Touch in the Regime of Truth
The touchscreen, in psychoanalytical terms, seduces us into the post-truth regime, instrumentalizing our desires while exploding falsehoods across social media. Yet, awareness offers resistance. By fostering ethical creation and critical engagement, we can transform touch from a tool of subjection into one of empowerment. In Foucault’s words, truth is produced—we must produce it responsibly, lest impressions devour reality entirely.
