Communication between the self and other in cyberspace is filtered so that it does not occur in direct contact with the other, but rather is mediated through various technological gadgetry or social media forums. One is in effect able to mask or hide the self when communicating with the other and is no longer required to meet the other face to face in order for communication to occur. This paper seeks to answer the question: does technological gadgetry dehumanize the communicative act? The paper will examine the phenomenological implications of communicating in cyberspace via technological gadgetry in juxtaposition with communicating in the life world by meeting the other face to face. The paper will draw primarily on the scholarship of Walter J. Ong in examination of the communicative act in both the life world and in cyberspace, and will examine the phenomenological implications of engaging the other in both realms.
I am submitting this paper for consideration for the Pennsylvania Communication Annual highlighting Graduate Student Research.
Key words: Technological gadgetry, Phenomenology of technology, Technological embodiment, Communicative space, and Masking the self
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