| |
| author |
Brianna L. Scotti
| | title |
Social Distancing: Dividing Life into a Fractured Experience of the Physical and Digital Space to Transform the Human from a User to a Raw Material
| | abstract |
The 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic led to the global enforcement of mass government-imposed
shelter-in-place orders to help slow the spread of the air-born virus. Physical distancing
regulations and business closures have led to the development and mass integration of
connective technologies into the physical sphere. Virtual connective devices are utilized as direct
mediators of the fractured experience redefined by the physical distancing response of
COVID-19. The government-imposed shelter-in-place orders have separated one's reality into
two distinct spheres: the physical and the virtual. This fractured experience was created as the
physical became coded as "dangerous" for the possibility of contamination through physical
contact between persons. The digital space, present within the screen of connective technologies,
has been coded as "safe" and used by individuals to mediate the limitations caused by
COVID-19. Technologies present a sphere of refuge for the user to continue working from home
and interacting socially without the fear of physical contact. The digital space's active role in
accommodating the human's social needs has suppressed the recognition of the artificial
intelligence hidden within the new machine. Increased usage of connective technologies as a
mediator of physical limitation has concealed the correlated increase in the collection of an
individual's data. As data has surpassed oil as the world's number one raw material, the
government-imposed shelter-in-place orders and increased usage of connective technologies has
benefited the large tech firms as they are working towards the goal to virtually connect the world.
This essay will analyze how the fractured experience, and increased usage of connective
technologies, both redefined by the COVID-19 pandemic, have transitioned the human from a
user of these devices to the raw material being refined for data processing for the benefit of big
tech companies.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2021)
|
| advisor |
Allan Dawson
|
| committee |
Yuliya Grinberg
Jason Karolak
|
| full text | BScotti.pdf |
| |
