The Reader’s Digital Shadow: A Hermeneutic Inquiry into the Formation of the Self Through Reading Traces

Abstract

This article investigates the formation of the digital self through a hermeneutic analysis of digital reading traces. We posit the concept of the “digital shadow” to theorise the aggregate of passive, behavioral data (e.g., reading duration, highlighting patterns) generated unintentionally during platformized reading. This shadow is not merely a residue but an active, hermeneutic entity. We argue that self-formation occurs through a cyclical process: first, in the fusion of horizons (Gadamer, 2004, p.301-302) between reader and text, which produces discrete traces; second, as platforms algorithmically curate these traces into a coherent narrative profile—a mirror of the reader’s intellectual habits; and finally, as the reader interprets this algorithmic reflection of their own digital shadow, thereby integrating it into their ongoing self-understanding. This study provides a framework for understanding how reading, a fundamental act of interpretation, becomes a datafied site for the mediated construction of the intellectual self.