GTG

In the year 2020, one is considered abnormal if they don’t have any social media platforms. Most Americans have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, or another form of social media. In a lot of ways, the internet and communicating with others has changed drastically. A few years ago, many people when logging off of a chat site would say “gtg,” or “gotta go.” This is not a common phrase nowadays when people constantly have their cell phones on them. A simple buzz alerts the cell phone owner of an incoming communication, and they can interact with the notification from anywhere. People no longer “log off.”

Defaut Facebook profile photo

In David Gelertner’s “The Second Coming: A Manifesto,” He explains how he believes technology will change. He theorizes about “cyber-bodies”, essentially pockets of information. Each person would have their own cyber-body, detailing all of their electronic life. He explains that he believes there will be “tuners,” where one would be able to pull up cyber-bodies. 

Although no such “tuners,” exist, and in the literal sense there are no cyber-bodies, one could argue that our cell phones are, in a way, these “tuners” that Gelertner theorized about. At a moment’s notice, you could pull up the social media pages of anyone who chooses to use them and form an informationally supported narrative about that person. Internet users are no longer simply computer users; they essentially do have a digital body, that is tied to their cell phone,  desktop or laptop computer, smartwatch, or even, to some extent, headphones, to interact with the rest of the online world using their digital persona. Each person does have a “cyber-body,” once you tie together their Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and any other social media pages, as well as their messaging apps. Handheld or wearable devices are simply the “tuners,” that Gelertner once described, able to pull up and interact with another’s “cyber-body” at a moment’s notice.