Abstract
In the The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man, Marshal McLuhan argues that the Internet would create a “global village” of collective consciousness. Today, the Internet has become a place not of collective human consciousness, but an extension of the already present borders and hierarchies that exist in non-virtual life. Companies such as Facebook and Twitter have made it so the Internet disguises itself as place accessible by everyone and a space to build community. The reality, however, is that the Internet functions as a highly surveilled space; when considering the ways in which identities and power constructs develop in cyberspace, it is important to rethink borders and how the Internet has also become a segregated space. Through the work of Alexander Galloway, I analyze the usage of Facebook’s language in their Community Standards; I argue that the language used to identify deviant individuals online changes following the attempted coup on January 6th, 2021, into a generalized language that unfairly targets anyone regardless of political affiliation. Analyzing this change will bring forth the ways in which corporations in power create new barriers and borders within the internet. After COVID-19 left the world with virtual space as the only “safe” space from the virus, what do these understandings of virtual space tell us about the way the internet needs to be monitored in order to move towards equity? How has the Internet as an extension of real life made it and unsafe space for marginalized people and activists to exist?
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2021 Special Focus—The Data Galaxy: The Un-Making of Typographic Man?
KEYWORDS
Marshal McLuhan, SNSs, Code Ctudies, Surveillance, Covid-19, Facebook, Capitol Riots
