

Digital Anomie: Online Theodicy, and the Developing Role of AI: Why the Cyber-Sacralized Matters in a Hypermediated World
Jan. 24 12:45 PM - 3:15 PM
To be hypermediated is to have no clear distinction between media, public space, and the body. Hypermediation is both an outcome and a cause of the rapid process of transformation of our world through the technological and the digital. As Echchaibi (2023) recognizes, the prefix ‘hyper’ captures not only processes of technological acceleration and excess of information, but also the changes in our societal tempo that are creating massive social and cultural transformations and challenges. This rapid social change, combined with intense polarization, is generating a deep sense of “digital anomie.” To counter this sense of disjuncture, forms of “online theodicy” are actively shaping people’s identities and orientations. In our hypermediated environment, the sacred is being manifest in a number of forms and for a number of reasons beyond the constraints of organized religion, and even religion itself. By drawing upon the insightful work of Charles H. Long (1967; 2018), I will present a paradigm for viewing the sacralization process in cyberspace that better elucidates the relationship we now have with digital media, AI, and those things we hold as “ultimate.” In our secular world, people, institutions, objects and histories are being sacralized and venerated through the digital at a relentless pace to support dominant ideologies and their goals. Identifying this process of sacralization offers a framework for illuminating the relationship between digital media and what we think matters most in the world.