‘I love you and I'm here for you’: Public intimacy on anonymous digital platforms

Abstract

Anonymous digital intimate publics (ADIPs) are digital platforms where anonymous posters share intimate stories. Because these platforms are anonymous, conventions such as user profiles, time stamps and ‘likes’ are not part of the site’s functionality. Nonetheless, intimate connections are shared and developed on these sites. Rather than an isolated occurrence, multiple platforms have emerged with similarities in the intimate connection and communication that takes place on ADIPS. This research uses Lauren Berlant’s intimate publics to build a conceptual framework which sees intimacy as a broad and often ephemeral occurrence which creates worlds and connects communities. Building on existing..