ABSTRACT
This chapter uses the metaphor of theatre to conceptualize what we do with technology and what technology does with us. Engaging with philosophical and sociological work (e.g., Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, Austin, Searle, Goffman, Turner, Schechner, Butler), the metaphor is used to emphasize the social dimensions of our dealings with technology. For example, some computer games have a very important social dimension. These social aspects (especially role playing) are also connected to embodiment and movement—often neglected in sociological accounts. It is also argued that technology is not only a co-actor or “actant”, as Latour and later Verbeek have argued, but is also more like a director of our plays and (interpreting Ricoeur) the playwright of our narratives. Again technology is shown to have a normative influence on our daily lives.
