Tuning one and other

Abstract

ABSTRACT Being and bearing witness is foundational to social structures. Different kinds of mediated presence, which have been introduced by information and communication technology in the twentieth century, affect how people are witness to each other. To better understand trade-offs for trust, the so-called YUTPA framework is developed, which allows for identifying different presence configurations. As a techno biography, the memory of four live events is re-visited to explore the force of mediating presence for being and bearing witness in the new presence configurations that have emerged in the use of information and communication technology. These live events happened in different decades with different levels of technology and all represent a threshold in the developing media schemata in the Amsterdam digital cultural scene since the 1980s. This article argues that for being and bearing witness in mediated presence, psychological capacities for processes of imagination, attribution and immediate adaptation are pivotal. Witnessing the self appears to be a key capacity in these processes. While steering towards well-being and survival, ethical positions that reflect trade-offs for trust and truth, are chosen. It is the physical presence of the witness as the beholder of sensations, emotions and feelings, that steers towards well-being and survival.