Digital Depth: A Volumetric Speculation

Abstract

Counter commonplace associations with superficial mediation and networked flatness, the digital seems to have its own peculiar depths, which range from the infrastructural (deep sea cables, deep packet inspection, crawl depth) to the metaphorical (Deep Web, deep learning, deepfakes). This article reviews recent discussions of digital depth and argues that this concept is central to understanding multiple aspects of digital media ranging from folk theorizations to technical expertise. What is digital depth? What is deep about digital media? How does this depth interface with volumes and scales beyond the digital? Through this effort, depth emerges as an underlying feature of deeply mediatized societies.