ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how intimacy is a critical affordance of mobile devices. The theoretical framework has basis in psychology and attachment theory as well as in the philosophy of affect. The innate intimacy of expressivity fostered by the mobile device enables a predilection for shooting video or photo close-ups – framing only that which is intended to be seen. The portability encourages a high degree of intimacy as well – due to the size and ease of concealment, one can take one's phone to bed or to the toilet, or discreetly to places where cameras are often forbidden. Most people daily experience mobile images as intimate through private text message exchanges, however, Snapchat, Instagram and other social media image sharing apps have since made them very social. Martin Sonderlev Christensen thoroughly explored the affective qualities of mobile phones, in the context of their multimedia creation properties, but also the intimate and social uses that have been applied to them.
