Duplicity or Posthuman?

When comparing the P&C, real network to Facebook, the virtual network, I agree with McNiell’s (2010, p72) narrative of the Facebook Profile as humanist with a shift towards posthuman foundations when the Timeline was introduced.  Leaving the ‘self’ open to influence of the Web and losing the ‘I’ to become part of the ‘we’ operating together to make a ‘self’ much like the operation of the P&C.  The P&C is a “posthuman collectivity” working together as one to assist our school.

David Atkinson and Paul Silverman argue the “authenticity of life is not to be understood simply” (Atkinson & Silverman (1997, 319) as cited by Kuttainen, 2016, slide 5).  An individual’s life is made up of many parts pieced together to make the personality.  Those pieces metamorphose throughout their life with age, experience and knowledge and are tempered by audience, location and what is socially acceptable.  The P&C self represents the authentic self.  However, the individual has to play a role and act as an advocate on behalf of the school and students.  This idea aligns itself with Bolter’s idea that “networked self is organised like the Web itself, as a constantly changing set of affiliations or links.  At any given moment the individual is defined by the connections that she chooses to establish with other individuals, activity groups, and religious and secular organisations” (Bolter, (2000, 17-29) as cited by McNiell, 2012, p. 72).  Friendships which exist outside the P&C sphere are tested within the P&C network. 

I have experienced such a shift when voting differently to a “friend” in a committee vote. The “friend” left the meeting, even though that person knew my stance on the matter.  That person and I are friendly in social/community settings, but no longer enjoy a friendship.  This “friend” is also the “Flaneur” described in my previous blog (Hough, 2016).  This example of the authentic self is evidence of the complexity of Atkinson and Silverman’s theory (Atkinson & Silverman (1997, 319) as cited by Kuttainen, 2016, slide 5).   Some people have the ability to separate ‘business’ from ‘friendship’ and others cannot due to immaturity, life experiences or simply the inability to understand the difference.



References

Hough, T. (2016). Give a ruler an inch and they’ll take a mile. Retrieved from http://ournewblog2016.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/give-ruler-inch-and-theyll-take-mile.html

Kuttainen, V. (2016). BA1002: Our Space:  Networks, Narratives and the making of place, Lecture 6:  Network narratives.  [PowerPoint slides].  Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

McNeill, L. (2012). There is no "I" in network: Social networking sites and posthuman auto/biography. Biography, 35(1), 65-82. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Image:  https://socialecologies.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/spiritual-being.jpg?w=156&h=199&crop=1