Interruptions: Reconsidering the Immaterial in Human Engagements with Technology
Abstract
This paper explores conceptions of the immaterial in human engagements with technology and technological systems. It employs two different theories of interruption, one technical and the other philosophical, as a means to examine the renegotiations of human-technology relationships that occur when a system, previously considered immaterial and judged inconsequential, reveals itself as significant. Two examples, the Millennium bug and Facebook’s provision of Open Graph, are used to illustrate people’s sudden recognition of the operation of underlying technological systems. This paper considers these moments as interruptions in order not only to analyse people’s reappraisal of the perceived immateriality of the technologies, but also to emphasise the value of recognising their consequence and apparent agency.
Author Biography
Eleanor Sandry
Eleanor Sandry is a Lecturer in the Department of Internet Studies at Curtin University. Her research examines communication theory and practice, both offline and online, with a focus on considering the value of the differences between communicators.
Michele Wilson
Michele Willson is Head of Department and Associate Professor in the Department of Internet Studies, at Curtin University. Her research explores various expressions of technology and sociality, including more recently, the social, political and cultural impact of code, software and algorithms.