Platforms as the New Monarchs: Who Aggregates the Artifactual Self?

Buchanan's "artifactual man" imagines the self as something we construct through experimentation. Digital platforms now mediate that construction: without a data representation, you arguably don't exist in the relevant sense.

The locus of control matters: are we ceding authorship of our artifactual selves to "monarchs of the digital realm" who operate under a myth of benevolence while serving self-interest?

Reframing: if the individual controlled their own data aggregation, owning and curating their digital self, does the dynamic change? Does personal data sovereignty restore the freedom to "become the man you want to become"?