Instagram Story Likes and Markers of Digital Affection
phemeral content (Instagram Stories, Snap...) generates heightened emotional intensity precisely because it's meant to vanish. Its fleeting nature amplifies emotional impact. Content shared with a limited group ("close friends") acquires a special, intimate value, reinforcing an implicit bond between sender and recipient. Similarly, exchanging... See more
Saving the Invisible
Other times, the lack of physical cues is more complicated. I can see the dozen or so people who are sitting around a table or lounging with me in a hallway, but the potential audience for a given post ranges from “zero” to “every single one of the billions of people on the internet,” and I can’t necessarily tell which one it’s going to be until
... See moreGretchen McCulloch • Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language
The preoccupation with what it means to assign love value is not a new phenomenon, nor is the conflation of the language of love with the language of business. What is new is the idea that tracking love and love’s expression is important “internally” to the couple over the course of a relationship.