Convivial Social Media Selves?: A Socio - Theological Examination of Computer - Mediated Connectedness

Computers were destined to be "connected" because their creators were created to be "connected." While sociologists attempt to examine the self in relation to the phenomena of ever-connected social media platforms, theological insight can provide a transcendent teleology, a "...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of interdisciplinary studies
Main Author: Reichard, Joshua D. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Institute for Interdisciplinary Research 2021
In: Journal of interdisciplinary studies
Year: 2021, Volume: 33, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 83-104
Further subjects:B Computers
B Sociologists
B Social media
B Perfection
B Social Belonging
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Computers were destined to be "connected" because their creators were created to be "connected." While sociologists attempt to examine the self in relation to the phenomena of ever-connected social media platforms, theological insight can provide a transcendent teleology, a "directionality," toward which such connectedness points. This essay draws on Ivan Illich's vision for "convivial tools" for an interdisciplinary examination of the self in context of social media. Commercially designed, corporate-controlled social media platforms are not convivial tools by Illich's definition, and cannot patch all existential wounds, but they can synthetically ameliorate the deepest longings of the human heart. Ultimately, social media selves hearken to a spiritual vision of a world where such alienation and brokenness are supplanted by personal and relational wholeness.
ISSN:2766-0508
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of interdisciplinary studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.5840/jis2021331/25