ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the creation and circulation of digital images of the self as part of the emergence of what has previously been described as ‘selfie culture’ as object of study alongside the evolution of ‘selfie studies’ as a field of enquiry. It pays attention to the archival significances of social media platforms, and Instagram in particular, and the centrality of algorithms in the construction of what we (and Matthew Flisfeder, 2021) describe as algorithmic desire. OnlyFans is also explored as a social media platform that draws many of the themes of this chapter (indeed this book) into dialogue and questions the utility of some of our critical language around masculinity, sexuality and sexual content in the 21st century. The chapter also pays particular attention to the consequences of an artificial intelligence (AI) imaginary when it comes to sexualised masculinity, the versions of male ‘hotness’ that AI produces and the cultural, political and affective dimensions of the AI body.
