Blocking out the other
Paulina Tanterl
Our digital interactions create a certain paradox: we perceive ourselves as more approachable than ever but simultaneously face isolation, even elimination, to an unprecedented extent.
So-called “filter-bubbles”[1], caused by algorithmic content curation and reified by social media platforms, make us think we are exclusively surrounded by like-minded peers. The only content we see consists of pre-selected images and texts, mimicking our own preferences. If someone is too eager in their disagreement they may get blocked, their content gets restricted, or their account gets banned from the platform altogether. But it’s not algorithms which are to blame: It’s the individual who rejects the counterpart with a quick tap on the screen. An action of man, executed by the App.
ln Seminar XX Lacan questions for the status of one’s jouissance stating that fundamentally it remains unavowable to oneself.[2] Through the law, society establishes a certain regulation of jouissance.[3] One can make pleasurable use of both, either by obeying or by secretively overstepping these given principles. Social media offers one of many stages where jouissance and its (non)regulation are orchestrated.
The term “ghosting”[4], used to describe a person disappearing completely, vanishing into thin air, without any explanation, speaks for itself. There is a secret jouissance in imposing an exclusion upon each other –– using a simple tap to do the job. If nobody challenges or criticizes my self-proclaimed correctness, I become a 'being with no-other', a solitary existence that only reflects my own pretensions. Here reigns the individual who enjoys the regulation of the other, the censorship it inflicts upon its neighbor, friend, or stranger in the comments section. In this scenario of digital restriction, no discourse is possible since every possible disagreement gets rejected right from the start. But blaming the ubiquity of digital communication would be an easy way out. If we acknowledge the gap, the discrepancy between each other, we willingly accept being confronted with all the obnoxious parts of ourselves as well. To unblock means to acknowledge the other in their sometimes unpleasant presence.
Instead of blocking or restricting, we can openly approach controversy, not only on social media, but also in real life. After all, that’s also something we can get from the psychoanalytical experience: It all starts with an invitation to speak freely, to listen without preconception. Psychoanalysis as an attempt to voice something instead of muting it.
References
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/11/magazine/whos-living-in-a-bubble.html
[2] Lacan, J. On Feminine Sexuality. The Limits of Love and Knowledge. Book XX Encore 1972-1973 Trans. Bruce Fink. W.W. Norton & Company (1999) p.92
[3] Miller, J.,-A.,: L’Économie de la Jouissance in L'École de la Cause freudienne 2011/1 N° 77 p.159
[4] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ghosting