The Queer Allure of Digital Sociality

Author

Benjamin Parrish Haber, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFollow

Date of Degree

9-2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Sociology

Advisor

Patricia Ticineto Clough

Committee Members

Victoria Pitts-Taylor

Jessie Daniels

Amy Herzog

Jasbir Puar

Subject Categories

Communication Technology and New Media | Film and Media Studies | Gender and Sexuality | Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication | Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies | Social Media | Sociology of Culture

Keywords

ephemerality, queer digital, ontology, risk, affect, digital capitalism

Abstract

This dissertation explores the resonance between queer sociality and emergent forms of digital communication. Drawing from queer theory and LGBTQ social histories, this dissertation charts the convergence of digital social modulation with the polyvalence, promiscuity, and mutability of queer sociality. A close analysis of the infrastructure and design of Facebook, Snapchat, Grindr, and other queered social media platforms demonstrates how digital capitalism’s desire for lifelong compulsive engagement is in part facilitated by an appropriation of the ongoingness of queer sexuality and relationality. In highlighting the key role of temporality, aesthetic, and affect in regulating the creation and circulation of digital media, this dissertation frames a socio-political landscape that has moved away from the rational human subject. To engage with this developing landscape, a genealogy of queer computation and an analysis of corporeal and ecological data systems are presented to suggest a generative, digital, queer method.

Recommended Citation

Haber, Benjamin Parrish, "The Queer Allure of Digital Sociality" (2017). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2410