Define virtual hug11/7/2023 ![]() If we did not use this kind of language all the time, it might appear odd, for a couple of ‘facts’ seem apparent: (1) hugging is very much an embodied kind of affair, and (2) online interaction is not. Her text said, mom, you will rock!” Commenting on this she says “getting that text was like getting a hug.” But what might we infer from Turkle’s claim that getting the text was “like getting a hug”? Presumably, there was something about the quality of that digitally mediated interaction that was comparable to the quality of a hug in which two people share a physical embrace. In the introduction to her Ted Talk, the psychologist Sherry Turkle (2012) reflects on an experience she had right before coming on stage, “Just a moment ago,” she tells us “my daughter texted me for good luck. ![]() By introducing and developing this concept, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of our digital embodied sociality and the possibilities for caring connections online. These claims help make the case that quality social connections online are substantially dependent upon the dynamic skilful resourcing of multiple mediating components, what we term digital tact. This leads us to several claims about the nature of our embodied social interactions and their digital mediation: (1) all social interaction is mediated (2) all virtual experiences are embodied (3) technology has become richer and more supportive of embodiment and (4) expertise plays a role. Inspired by such contrasting cases, we ask if ‘digital hugs’ can work? We use the Mixed Reality Interaction Matrix to examine hugging as a social practice. However, others continued to find care and connection in their digitally mediated interactions despite not being able to touch. Some theorists might blame this on the disembodied character of our digital spaces, e.g., that interpersonal touch is excluded from our lives online. Many turned to digitally mediated social interactions to address these absences, but often unsatisfactorily. ![]() This absence helped some realize just how important these interactions are to our sense of care and connection. The COVID-19 pandemic led to social restrictions that often prevented us from hugging the ones we love.
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