Third International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

In this paper I develop a dialectical theory of intimacy and cosmopolitanism to explain what Stuart Hall would call the current political conjuncture. Intimacy is an enclosure over time, while cosmopolitanism is an opening to difference through an event. While often associated with discourses of unecumbered networking, digital media designs have emphasised propinquity and parochialism, thus foreclosing the cosmopolitan event. This in turn produces forms of intimacy that are antagonistic toward difference. The paper explores these design practices, focusing on filter bubble algorithms and locative sensor infrastructures, and links these to outbursts of cyberhate. Through recent case studies I show how cultures of cyberhate are entangled with the rise of the Alt-Right.