The Army of the Blind Kings - Digital Illiteracy and the Looming Amnesia of the Walled Gardens

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Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-09-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22827411
Primary Topic
Digital Media and Philosophy
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

The Army of the Blind Kings - Digital Illiteracy and the Looming Amnesia of the Walled Gardens

Peter Siegfried Krug
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Digital Media and Philosophy
article

The Army of the Blind Kings - Digital Illiteracy and the Looming Amnesia of the Walled Gardens

Peter Siegfried Krug
article en

Abstract

This critical cultural-philosophical essay explores the phenomenon of "digital media permanence" versus the reality of global data erasure within contemporary commercial ecosystems. Focusing on the rapid digital transformation of the elderly demographic over the past 15 years, the text analyzes the socio-technological trap of "Walled Gardens" (such as Meta and Alphabet ecosystems). By dissecting the structural dependencies on ephemeral digital identifiers (SIM cards, cloud accounts) and the near-total absence of local, physical data storage (external hard drives) among senior users, the article formulates a bleak 50-year projection. It posits that a combination of algorithmic account purges (e.g., the 120-day WhatsApp inactivity rule) and profound functional digital illiteracy will inevitably result in the "Great Digital Cleansing"—the sudden, catastrophic erasure of the 21st-century's everyday working-class history. The text draws a precise, dark parallel between contemporary internet monopolies and the structural dynamics of medieval feudalism.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Digital Media and Philosophy
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The Army of the Blind Kings - Digital Illiteracy and the Looming Amnesia of the Walled Gardens — Peter Siegfried Krug · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS