From Frankfurt’s distraction of perception to the effect of decentration in the network

Abstract

The article retraces the epistemological debates occurring in mass communication, from the problem of dispersed perception in the Frankfurt School to accelerated decentration in the theory of immaterial labour. The analysis covers, first of all, the theses of the Frankfurt School representatives concerning the disappearance of aura and distraction as a starting point for theoretical reflection on the problem of perception dispersion and, subsequently, the abolition of face-to-face communication in the decentralized internet. The purpose of following Hans Belting’s concept of “the presence of the absent places image” is to outline the tendency for acceleration and progressive decentration associated with the spatio-temporal compression and the flow of information posing a threat to material co-presence.