Emotions, Bodies, and Digital Mediation in Postmodern Times – Georg Simmel’s Approach and Beyond

Simmel’s sociological reflections provide a valuable framework for understanding the complexities of postmodern emotional life. His work on the interaction between individual emotions and societal structures offers insights into how experiences of pain, fear, and anxiety are mediated by modern social forms. In today’s digital age, where technology shapes human interaction, the tension between private suffering and public displays of well-being is critical. Social media forces individuals to curate emotions, blending the personal and public. Simmel’s concept of Vergesellschaftung (socialization) emphasizes that emotions are not isolated but socially constructed, shaped by interactions within an increasingly fragmented society. This dynamic echoes his analysis of the alienation of the self in modern life, as seen in The Metropolis and Mental Life (1903), where he examines how modern individuals become emotionally detached in the face of overwhelming societal pressures. Moreover, Simmel’s exploration of the Tragedy of Culture (1911) shows how the expansion of social structures can burden individuals, leading to a disconnect between internal emotional experiences and external societal expectations.

Hypothesis 1: Social media intensifies emotional labour, compelling individuals to perform emotional well-being while masking internal experiences of stress and anxiety.

Hypothesis 2: The pressure to publicly display well-being on digital platforms exacerbates psychosomatic conditions, as the body becomes a site of unresolved emotional conflict.

These hypotheses align with Simmel’s theories, which suggest that individuals in modernity face increasing fragmentation of the self, leading to alienation. Arlie Hochschild’s work on emotional labour (The Managed Heart, 1983) and Eva Illouz’s exploration of emotional commodification (Cold Intimacies, 2007) support this view, revealing how emotions are managed and sold in the digital age. Situating Simmel’s thought within current sociological debates on emotions, bodies, and digital mediation, I offer a theoretical and methodological approach to understand how modern affective states are shaped by technology and social expectations.