Virtual Memory: The Blog as Technological Prosthetic

Abstract

The
 following
 paper
 will
 explore
 the
 nature
 of
 memory
 in
 the
 digital
 age,
 proposing
 the
 blog
 as
 a
 model
 for
 a 
memory
 system.
 It 
will 
examine
 the 
blog’s 
position 
as 
both 
a 
medium
 and 
a
 social 
practice.
 Both
are
 essential
 –
 without
 the
 medium,
 without
 the
 website
 itself,
 the
 blog's
 community
 has
 no
 sense
 of
 place.
 Without
 conversational
 social
 relations,
 there
 is
 no
 basis
 for
 community.
 There
 is,
 in
 fact,
 an
 orality
 to
 blogging,
 an
 orality
 that
 recalls
 the
 manner
 in
 which
 non‐literate
 cultures
 rely
 on
 speech
 for
 their
 existence.
 It
 is
 a
 form
 of
 speech,
 though,
 that
 is
 not
 ephemeral,
 but
 permanent
 and
 instantly
 retrievable,
 and,
 in
 this
 manner,
 the
 blog
 provides
 a
 space
 to
 create
 a
 collective
 memory,
 without
 which
 the
 blogger
 does
 not
 exist.
 This
 presents
 a
 new
 form
 of
 subjectivity,
 one
 rooted
 in
 bits
 and
 bytes,
 defined
 by
 a
 database,
 made
 accessible
 by
 a
 search
 engine.
 The
 blog
 becomes
 a
 technological
 prosthetic
 for
 its
 users:
 cyborg
memory.