Abstract

When someone says ‘I am online’, it is a phenomenological issue. In reflecting upon the later philosophy of M. Heidegger, in particular focusing upon The Question Concerning Technology, social networking is a classic modern technology. The essence of the technology of social networking is Enframing, the essence of all modern technology for Heidegger; the essence of technology is nothing technological, but instead how the technology orientates humans towards the world. Social networking allows the users of the network to be placed in ‘standing-reserve’, and so the actual essence of social networking is no different to other technologies. The resources in social networking are people; and so the technology is creating the sense that people can be manipulated as resources, and put in standing-reserve