Session 7: Technologically Mediated Intimacy
3rd Global Conference
Friday 6th November – Sunday 8th November 2009
Salzburg, Austria
A Caricature of Intimacy: Online Fan Communities and Intimacy between Strangers
Christine James
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Valdosta State University, USA
In the 1952 film Singing in the Rain, the song “Lucky Star” described portals being opened on earth so that fans and celebrities could co-mingle in celestial bliss. With the advent of the internet, such a portal opened wide. In the mid-1990s celebrity websites and unofficial fansites kept fans informed about their favorite celebrity’s latest projects, and often created communities between fans themselves. Much more than a 1960-1970’s style fan newsletter, the internet gave fans a feeling of intimacy, but a mediated intimacy. In the last two years, Twitter has provided a number of celebrities with a place to update fans and “tweet” back and forth an innumerable number of times in any given day. This accentuates the intimacy to such a level that it becomes a “caricature” – the minute-to-minute updates accentuate the illusion that the fan “knows” the celebrity, but the distance and mediation are still carefully maintained. What are the philosophical implications of such relationships between fans and celebrities? Are fangurls and fanboys merely in love with the feeling of being in love, a modern day counterexample to Plato’s Gorgias? Should one employ an ethic of care between fans and celebrities, or should one apply an ethics of justice approach? Do fans “owe” celebrities a certain amount of distance and respect, for example, should they refrain from patronizing celebrity stalker paparazzi websites? If a fan chooses to spend years engaging in website creation and maintenance for their favorite star, does that star then owe the fan something in return, in the sense of reciprocal Kantian duties? If we return to the example of Singing in the Rain, it quickly becomes clear that an Aristotelian approach involving moderation of the appetites is necessary. At first, Kathy Selden disingenuously pretends she doesn’t know who the star, Don Lockwood, is. The song “Lucky Star”, in which she confesses the extent of her fan obsession, was cut out of the original theatrical release of the film. What makes Kathy Selden an exemplary fan is the way she moderates her desires and lives out the Golden Mean – helping Don Lockwood in saving his film The Dueling Cavalier, but intending to end their liaison when it becomes clear that her own career and talents would be misused. Fan-Celebrity relationships on the internet would benefit from this type of Aristotelian moderation.
Download Draft Conference Paper (pdf)
Communicate Emotions through Technological Interfaces
Joana Lessa
Faculty of Architecture, Technical University, Lisbon, Portugal
Communicating with loved ones, lovers, partners, spouses involves naturally expressing, handling and understanding emotions. In a highly technologically society, interaction in this context is nowadays commonly assisted by technological interfaces, such as cell phones and computers.
How is emotion handled and transmitted throughout these interfaces? How do people express intimate emotions in technological mediated communication systems? Are those systems prepared to handle emotions without corrupting them?
In the perspective of Communication Design and Interaction Design, this paper discusses some of the recent literature about the subject and outlines some possible directions for the development of technological mediated communication interfaces, which might promote emotional expression discourses.
Body and mind work together when dealing with emotions: the body expresses emotion (tone of voice, facial expressions, body posture, physiological data); the mind works with feelings and is sensitive to external ideas. Without a face-to-face communication, the emotional expression of the body might not be seen.
Developments in communication interfaces indicate a growth in technology that provides body presence: incorporating video image, real time speech, integrating sensors, as a way to promote closeness. But the mind is resourceful and even without that input it has been shown that, in computer mediated communication, the communication of emotions is more explicit and more frequently, in opposition to face-to-face communication.
Some studies suggest that the input of subjective information related to emotions should be considered, in preference to objective information as physiological data: that personal emotional interpretation is a richer field to explore, in order to communicate emotions.
The use of ambiguous and evocative context driven, personal, narrative related elements, pointed to a multi-sensorial perception, seems to be a promising direction.
Download Draft Conference Paper (pdf)
Loneliness Dynamics Involved with University Long-Distance Relationships
Michael Firmin
Department of Psychology, Cedarville University, USA
The present phenomenological, qualitative research study involved in-depth interviews of all 16 female, sophomore students involved in respective distance relationships at a private, selective, comprehensive, Midwest university. Among other results found in the study, the present article specifically addressed the loneliness dynamics involved with the distance relationships. Four, themes relating to loneliness were found in the data analysis. First, loneliness tends to be acute after seeing the boyfriend, around holidays, when their friends go on dates, on “bad” days, when seeing other happy couples on campus, and during “lull” times. Second, loneliness tends to decrease when students are busy and when doing activities with local friends. Third, coping strategies include calling to talk and having other friends as their support-base. And finally, distance relationships tend to generate “needy” tensions and give the relationship a highly perceived value.
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