𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹, 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹, 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

What's the difference between a shadow you can't touch and a figure you can count?

The virtual is a form of presence without matter; the digital, a form of encoding. Both are real in different contexts: the digital exists as data; the virtual, as experience. The one encodes; the other signifies.

ᶜᵒⁿᵗᵉˣᵗ ᵈᵉᶠⁱⁿᵉˢ ᵗʳᵃⁿˢᶜᵉⁿᵈᵉⁿᶜᵉ

Without context, "real," "virtual," and "digital" are just fuzzy labels. In a lab, "virtual" can mean simulated; in a video call, it can mean remote presence; and in philosophy, it can be unactualized power (hello, Deleuze!).

The digital is the language.

The virtual is the stage.

The real is what happens - depending on where you look at it from.

As McLuhan prophetically said: the medium is the message. But the message... depends on the context.