Reflecting on the Online Self Through the Looking-Glass: From Auto-Ethnography to Empathic Criticism

Abstract

This essay reflects upon applying auto-ethnography to the study of networked emotions and identities. I argue that the use of this method to approach how the online self is constructed and confronted with other networked selves leads to developing an attitude of ‘empathic criticism’ combining critical theory with feminist ethics of empathy, compassion, and care. I build on the ‘field work’ conducted in Spring 2019 with my ‘Selfies and Beyond’ class at John Cabot University, and reflect on the students’ auto-ethnographic pieces, trying to deconstruct the structure of feeling of networked times and what lies underneath the anxiety, fear, and boredom that generation Z seems to be increasingly affected by. I strongly maintain that these feelings, however, are not exclusive and limited to a specific age group, but widely shared across the age spectrum. Through examples and case studies from popular culture, media texts, and heated social media discussions, I show how these feelings are machine-generated and constitute an inherent part of the affective mechanisms of today’s networked emotional capitalism.