The Presentation of Self: Fads and Fades of the Contemporary Social Link

The “social link” (which shows the essential reason of being together) is significant of the kind of society it expresses. Durkheim had analyzed religion as a very strong core of togetherness. Nowadays, religious fundamentalism coexists with secularism and several “democratic trends” which figure as the expression of the contemporary global world. We also observe 1) the supremacy of economic governance leading to authoritarian politics and 2) the supremacy of digital expressions characterizing the contemporary sociality. Thus, the “social link” becomes more and more virtual (and so less solid and less lasting). Exposing instant images (via social media) becomes a central part of the contemporary meaning of “being together” and the narration of self-presentation becomes some kind of dominant myth defining the everyday life, in the middle of multiple secularities. Together with the “argued” religiosity or secularism, the political likes or dislikes, the “internet affinities” and the networks around common interests on cultural products, the social links seem to change.

The goal of this session is to try to investigate how this kind of virtual social link (becoming more and more dominant in everyday life) expresses the distancing from “political fields” (or at least the loose relation indicated by “comments” without effective impacts) and the progressive absence of social negotiation, serving as the myth of personal wellness where “ego” matters most. Case studies of the multiple facets and expressions of this contemporary reality on youth, artistic, professional and other groups are most welcome in order to explore what means “society” nowadays.