[Air-L] CFP - Intersecting Intimacies: Auto-Ethnographic Explorations

[Riki Thompson]

Dear AOIR Colleagues,
Apologies for cross-posting
CALL FOR PROPOSALS - DEADLINE: December 15, 2025
Intersecting Intimacies: Auto-Ethnographic Explorations of Researchers Who Swipe, Share, and Study Digital Intimacy
Editors: Dr. Treena Orchard (Western University), Dr. Riki Thompson (University of Washington), Dr. Caroline Tagg (The Open University)
Series: Digital Intimacies Series, Bloomsbury Academic
About the Collection
Do you study digital platforms for intimacy while also using them in your own life? Have you navigated the blurred boundaries between researching dating apps and swiping on them yourself? Analyzed social media practices while maintaining your own digital connections?
This edited volume centers the unique insider perspectives of researchers who occupy the dual position of both studying and personally engaging with digital platforms for intimacy. We seek contributions that bridge personal experience, methodological innovation, and scholarly analysis to offer deeper understanding of how digital platforms actually function in intimate life.
Our relationship with digital technologies has become increasingly complex—reflected in declining dating app usage among younger generations, heightened data security concerns, and the growing influence of AI in online spaces. Yet we continue to navigate these digital landscapes not only as researchers but as users seeking connection, romance, friendship, and community.
What We're Looking For
We invite auto-ethnographic and other creative qualitative explorations from researchers across disciplines, career stages, and geographical locations who critically reflect on what it means to use digital platforms both personally and professionally.
Topics may include (but are not limited to):
• Dating apps and romantic intimacy
• Social media platforms and friendship maintenance
• Private messaging apps and family connections
 • Professional networking and digital relationships
• The blurred boundaries between research and personal platform use
• Methodological innovations in studying digital intimacy
• Intersectional experiences of identity and technology
• Cross-cultural perspectives on digital intimacy practices
• Ethical considerations in researching platforms you personally use
Important Dates
Proposal/Abstract Deadline: December 15, 2025 (just 2 weeks away!) Initial Acceptance Notification: February 1, 2026 Full Chapter Drafts Due: October 1, 2026
*Chapters should be 4,000-6,000 words (including references)
Submission Guidelines
Please submit via Google Form: https://forms.gle/orDNnzcNsfAphWV79
Your submission should include: • Proposal: Maximum 250 words outlining your chapter's working title, focus, approach, and contribution • Bio: Maximum 50 words including current affiliation • Contact information
Questions?
We're excited to discuss potential contributions! Please don't hesitate to reach out: • Dr. Treena Orchard: torchar2 at uwo.ca • Dr. Riki Thompson: rikitiki at uw.edu • Dr. Caroline Tagg: caroline.tagg at open.ac.uk
Please share this call with colleagues who might be interested!
We look forward to exploring these intersecting intimacies with you and creating a volume that pushes the boundaries of how we understand the personal-professional dynamics of digital intimacy research.
________________________________
About the Editors
Dr. Treena Orchard is an award-winning anthropologist and author of Sticky, Sexy, Sad: Swipe Culture & The Darker Side of Dating Apps who conducts critically oriented feminist research on sexuality, gender, health, and technology.
Dr. Riki Thompson is a digital discourse analyst whose research examines language, gender, sexuality, mental health, and digital intimacies to reveal how digital communication connects some while marginalizing others.
Dr. Caroline Tagg is an applied linguist who researches how digital communication practices are embedded in individuals' wider social, economic and political lives.

Riki Thompson, Ph.D. (she/her)
Associate Professor, Writing Studies & Digital Rhetoric, University of Washington Tacoma
SHESOURCE Expert<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://womensmediacenter.com/profile/dr-riki-thompson-phd__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!mMsspjMPkRLtekRcOLLeYiI2246rhJnLrfWIyPrhqJIHSzxb2Gniz3qbLINKI3qU3Lcksc4iAd0nr2WBl-lGxa8$> - Women's Media Center
rikithompson.com<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://rikithompson.com/__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!mMsspjMPkRLtekRcOLLeYiI2246rhJnLrfWIyPrhqJIHSzxb2Gniz3qbLINKI3qU3Lcksc4iAd0nr2WBs16-ErA$> |  Google Scholar<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WGrHnB8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!mMsspjMPkRLtekRcOLLeYiI2246rhJnLrfWIyPrhqJIHSzxb2Gniz3qbLINKI3qU3Lcksc4iAd0nr2WBWAvVsFY$> | LinkedIn<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.linkedin.com/in/riki-thompson-92653990/__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!mMsspjMPkRLtekRcOLLeYiI2246rhJnLrfWIyPrhqJIHSzxb2Gniz3qbLINKI3qU3Lcksc4iAd0nr2WB5jyphRQ$>

Check out recent scholarship:
Discourse, Digital Intimacies, & Online Dating<https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1lReA7suQG01Zk>, Special issue now published in Discourse, Context & Media
Bumble’s ticking clock: Dating app temporal design as neoliberal discipline.<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211695825000467?dgcid=author> Discourse, Context, &  Media.
Dr. Riki Thompson on online dating and normative relationships<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KB2gSXsvgI__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!mMsspjMPkRLtekRcOLLeYiI2246rhJnLrfWIyPrhqJIHSzxb2Gniz3qbLINKI3qU3Lcksc4iAd0nr2WBse84Hr4$>. Diggit Magazine Video Interview
Research Methodology with Online Dating Apps<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.qsrinternational.com/nvivo-qualitative-data-analysis-software/resources/nvivo-podcasts?utm_source=social*media&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=fy22*nv*podcast&utm_content=episode39__;Kysr!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!hy-GynKEo_cDGLONgDKkQLEkmx5bbNeGLt98cJibjbK-WS13v4gR0QAOTsMN2_JGJj1Bp3_NudN9cisdYG0qI-xycw$> NVIVO Podcast: Between the Data
Beyond the gender binary: Digital dating, discourse, design, & normativity<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.academia.edu/118346967/Beyond_the_gender_binary_Digital_Dating_Discourse_Design_Normativity?source=swp_share__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!mMsspjMPkRLtekRcOLLeYiI2246rhJnLrfWIyPrhqJIHSzxb2Gniz3qbLINKI3qU3Lcksc4iAd0nr2WBaB0xn3k$>- (Critical) Discourse Studies and the (new) normal
More than the selfie: online dating, non-monogamy, normativity, & linked profiles on OkCupid<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.academia.edu/60241446/More_than_the_selfie_online_dating_non_monogamy_normativity_and_linked_profiles_on_OkCupid__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!hy-GynKEo_cDGLONgDKkQLEkmx5bbNeGLt98cJibjbK-WS13v4gR0QAOTsMN2_JGJj1Bp3_NudN9cisdYG3cQf8Agg$> - Language & Sexuality
Reflective Approaches to Analyzing Digital Discourse<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/drive.google.com/file/d/15lQSPDyvWUHfBzWul9Ak0nLjpYsV7JOD/view__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!hy-GynKEo_cDGLONgDKkQLEkmx5bbNeGLt98cJibjbK-WS13v4gR0QAOTsMN2_JGJj1Bp3_NudN9cisdYG2yB9PCvg$> - Research Methods for Digital Discourse Analysis