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Yet the autobiographical isn’t the personal. […] All sorts of narratives are read as autobiographies of collective experience. The personal is the general. Publics presume intimacy (Berlant, 2008).

⭐ intro (what is this text about)

1. Intimate Publics Online: what are intimate publics? how and why do they form online?
2. Going into the Publics part = why, how and how come marginalised people turn to the web for intimacy and connection?
3. Going into the Intimacy part = what and why is digital intimacy?

⭐ chapter 1 = Intimate Publics Online

In the first chapter I want to explore the concept of "intimate publics," initially defined as both physical and emotional spaces formed by strangers and revolving around media and culture. The focus is on redefining what intimate publics are and understanding how they function in the online landscape. The central questions I want to answer are: What exactly are intimate publics, and how do they manifest on the internet today?

Building on texts from Berlant (1998) and McGlotten (2013), I will navigate the distinction between "real" and "virtual" intimacy, seeking to conceptualise more adaptable connections beyond conventional norms. This chapter places a spotlight on the dynamics of intimate publics, underscoring their fluid and disruptive role in shaping connections, belonging, and intimacy specifically within the online domain (Smith,Wickes & Underwood, 2013).

⭐ chapter 2 = Online Intimacies of the Unbearable

In addressing the question of why and how marginalised individuals create intimacies through the internet, the second key point of my thesis digs into the interstitial spaces between communities and publics centred around challenging human experiences. I will explore the nature of online intimacies within these groups and the reasons behind their formation. Characterised by digressions and alienation, content sharing within these communities creates a paradox where the more distressing the content, the more intimate the approach. The human desire to be like, to be with, to be understood and respected by others exposes people to a state of deep vulnerability. The vulnerability in the quest be seen and to belong at your most unlikable is what binds these publics together (Dahl, 2016).

The exploration considers the following questions: What prompts marginalised people to create these virtual intimate publics, and how do these online connections take shape? As marginalised individuals navigate digital existence, a shared vulnerability emerges, fostering a commitment to be there for one another online  (Lagerkvist & Andersson, 2017). This commitment becomes an antidote to cultural dislocation, offering a space to explore identities outside societal norms  (Adler and Adler, 2005, 2008). Online communities, then, serve as havens where individuals find refuge and emotional support. The narrative unfolds as a testament to the role of digital technology in the sharing of vulnerability online, illustrating its vital function for marginalised and traumatised people.

⭐chapter 3 = Unbearable Intimacy

Lastly, the third chapter explores how our digital intimate publics reshape and reimagine the specific ways in which intimacy unfolds, positioning media as a key actor in producing, shaping, and reframing these relations. Drawing on Schutz's insight that space encompasses not only physical but also social proximity, the chapter considers the connections and "beside-each-otherness" inherent in our understanding of intimacy and digital space (1967; Tillich, 1959). To do this I engage with Bollmer’s claim that intimacy is unbearable (Smith, Wickes & Underwood, 2013; p. 45-58). Unbearability, in this context, reflects the simultaneous connection and disconnection experienced socially, with intimacy situated at the intersection of these relations. Intimacy appears as both overwhelming and anchoring. The chapter then approaches what happens to this conception of digital intimacy when there is an already existing unbearability of life, such as with marginalised people.

⭐ conclusion

In my exploration of intimate publics online, I have begun by redefining the concept and understanding the dynamics of virtual intimate publics. Then I have gone into the online intimacies of marginalised individuals, analysing the reasons behind the creation of virtual intimate spaces and emphasising the pivotal role of digital technology. Lastly I have engaged with Bollmer's claim that "intimacy is unbearable," exploring how digital intimate publics reshape connections. My thesis underscores the transformative power of digital technology in fostering connections, especially for marginalised individuals navigating challenges, offering new perspectives on the relationship between the personal and the collective within the evolving landscape of digital interactions.

⭐ references

Adler, P.A. and Adler, P. (2008) ‘The Cyber Worlds of self-injurers: Deviant communities, relationships, and selves’, Symbolic Interaction, 31(1), pp. 33–56. doi:10.1525/si.2008.31.1.33.

Andreassen, R. (2017) ‘New Kinships, new family formations and negotiations of intimacy via Social Media Sites’, Journal of Gender Studies, 26(3), pp. 361–371. doi:10.1080/09589236.2017.1287683.

Berlant, L.G. (2008) The female complaint the unfinished business of sentimentality in American culture. Durham: Duke University Press.

Dahl, U. (2016) ‘Femmebodiment: Notes on queer feminine shapes of vulnerability’, Feminist Theory, 18(1), pp. 35–53. doi:10.1177/1464700116683902.

Lagerkvist, A. and Andersson, Y. (2017) ‘The grand interruption: Death online and mediated lifelines of shared vulnerability’, Feminist Media Studies, 17(4), pp. 550–564. doi:10.1080/14680777.2017.1326554.

Mesch, G.S. (2011) ‘Minority status and the use of computer-mediated communication’, Communication Research, 39(3), pp. 317–337. doi:10.1177/0093650211398865.

Schutz, A. (1967) The Phenomenology of the Social World. Lehnert. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.

Shields Dobson, A., Robards, B. and Carah, N. (2019) Digital Intimate Publics and social media. Palgrave Macmillian (Palgrave Studies in Communication for Social Change).

Smith, N., Wickes, R. and Underwood, M. (2013) ‘Managing a marginalised identity in pro-anorexia and fat acceptance cybercommunities’, Journal of Sociology, 51(4), pp. 950–967. doi:10.1177/1440783313486220.

Tillich, P. (1959) Theology of Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.