International Research & Citation Index
IRCI Article ID: IRCI-AR-0000001219

Digital Intimacy and the Death of Presence: Rethinking Human Relations in Hyperconnected Societies

Authors:
Daitey William

Journal: International Journal of Social Science, Education, Communication and Economics (SINOMICS Journal)

Publication: 2025-10-31 · Vol. 4 No. 4 · pp. 398–409

DOI: 10.47353/sj.v4i4.450

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Abstract
The rapid expansion of digital communication technologies has transformed the structure of human interaction within hyperconnected societies. This study examines the emergence of digital intimacy and its implications for the decline of authentic human presence in contemporary communication practices. Using a qualitative conceptual approach grounded in communication theory, media ecology, existential philosophy, and critical digital studies, this article explores how social media platforms, algorithmic systems, and virtual interaction reshape intimacy, identity, and relational experience. The findings reveal that hyperconnectivity produces a paradoxical condition in which individuals remain continuously connected yet increasingly experience emotional fragmentation, loneliness, performative communication, and communicative fatigue. The study introduces the concept of “presence erosion” to explain the weakening of embodied interaction and existential closeness caused by excessive technological mediation. Furthermore, the article argues that digital capitalism commodifies emotional expression and social interaction through engagement-driven communication systems that prioritize visibility over authenticity. Although digital technologies provide opportunities for global connectivity and social participation, they simultaneously threaten the depth of human relationships by replacing direct presence with symbolic and algorithmic interaction. This study contributes to global communication scholarship by offering an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for understanding the crisis of presence in digital civilization. Ultimately, the article emphasizes the importance of reconstructing communicative ethics grounded in empathy, attentiveness, and authentic human engagement within increasingly mediated social environments.


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Authors
Daitey William
Affiliation: AsanSka University College of Design and Technology, Ghana
ORCID: 0009-0000-1011-8828


References
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Baym, N. K. (2015). Personal Connections in the Digital Age (2nd ed.). Polity Press.
Belli, S., López-Raventós, C., & Belli, A. (2016). Social networks, digital intimacy and emotional communication. Comunicar, 24(47), 9–17.
Benkler, Y. (2006). The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. Yale University Press.
boyd, d. (2014). It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. Yale University Press.
Castells, M. (2010). The Rise of the Network Society (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Couldry, N., & Hepp, A. (2017). The Mediated Construction of Reality. Polity Press.
Ellison, N. B., & boyd, d. (2013). Sociality through social network sites. In W. Dutton (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Internet Studies. Oxford University Press.
Floridi, L. (2014). The Fourth Revolution: How the Infosphere is Reshaping Human Reality. Oxford University Press.
Fuchs, C. (2014). Social Media: A Critical Introduction. Sage Publications.
Gergen, K. J. (2002). The challenge of absent presence. In J. Katz & M. Aakhus (Eds.), Perpetual Contact: Mobile Communication, Private Talk, Public Performance (pp. 227–241). Cambridge University Press.
Habermas, J. (1984). The Theory of Communicative Action. Beacon Press.
Han, B.-C. (2017). In the Swarm: Digital Prospects. MIT Press.
Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and Time. Harper & Row.
Hjarvard, S. (2013). The Mediatization of Culture and Society. Routledge.
Illouz, E. (2007). Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism. Polity Press.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. NYU Press.
Ling, R. (2008). New Tech, New Ties: How Mobile Communication is Reshaping Social Cohesion. MIT Press.
McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. McGraw-Hill.
Papacharissi, Z. (2010). A Private Sphere: Democracy in a Digital Age. Polity Press.
Rosa, H. (2019). Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World. Polity Press.
Turkle, S. (2011). Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. Basic Books.
Turkle, S. (2015). Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. Penguin Press.
Van Dijck, J. (2013). The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media. Oxford University Press.
Wellman, B. (2001). Physical place and cyberplace: The rise of personalized networking. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 25(2), 227–252.
Zuboff, S. (2019). The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. PublicAffairs.
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