Canadian philosopher and media theorist Marshall McLuhan famously talked about the “global village,” describing how electronic media would collapse the barriers of space and time. Later in his life, he rephrased this to the “global theater.”
[T]he institution of a new kind of global theater, in which all men become actors and there are few spectators. The population of the world is both the cast and content of this new theater. The repertory of the theater consists of a perpetual happening, which can include the retrieval or replay of any previous happenings that men choose to experience. - Marshall McLuhan, Take Today: The Executive as Dropout
I think the “global theater” phrasing is more apt, and it is what internet culture analyst
, aka “default friend,” and I will be discussing this Friday. Katherine and I will present our thoughts on the stage-like reality of the internet, followed by a collective discussion on the truth of this statement. Given that the record button will be on, we may even practice it.Our prompt: Has the internet become a stage, one where individuals can finally express their true selves? Or perhaps it serves as a platform for reinventing oneself through their “second self,” a term coined by sociologist Sherry Turkle to describe our digital avatars. More sadly, could it be a form of digital servitude, where creators adopt their second self and perform for likes, leading to burnout?
If the phrase holds, and the internet is indeed some kind of stage involving a performance, then such performances can feasibly be deemed good or bad. How can such judgments be made? Are they determined through metrics or by how many “others” one finds? In any case, I have been creating online since 2018, and there has been a lot of good and bad, but it has been undeniably transformative.
I was talking to Katherine recently, and we touched on the debate bubbling in some creator circles about either getting off the internet completely or doubling down on it and transforming it in the process. I am inclined toward the former and am finding ways to support my livelihood outside the risk of digital servitude, while Katherine is inclined toward the latter.
Perhaps Friday’s presentation will prompt me to reconsider. Regardless, I’ll remain open-minded. The internet, after all, is probably not what we think it is.
You can RSVP for our session, “The Internet Is a Stage,” here. It starts at noon Eastern Time and will be participatory.