23. What the fuck is 'digital intimacy'?
When I ran the webcam community and lived in a webcam house, I used to do all sorts of experiments to push the connecting abilities of the web.
In my mind, all people are connected. We are one. So the web is this amazing tool to help us visualize and feel that connection. My dream for the web was (as still is) that it would help people to re-learn the connection with mankind that many ?primitive? cultures already know.
One example of digital intimacy (
www.digitalintimacy.com) that I still do:
Every Tuesday at 1pm I host Hug Nation (
www.hugnation.com) with my 92 year old grandpa (
www.grandpacaleb.com). People gather around webcams world-wide and hug themselves as they visualize people around the world that they send love to and receive love from. Grandpa and I say a few words to anchor the moment.
If you want to listen to an archive (or have lots of ammunition to make fun of me) you can listen to an MP3 here:
www.hugnation.com/audio
Sometimes you can connect with someone through your computer that touches your heart in the most profound of ways. If you have had the experience, you know what I mean.
