New Communities of Care and Healing: Queer Virtual Communities in the AIDS Epidemic

Abstract

The convergence of the growing popularity of digital communication technologies and the emergence of the AIDS crisis in a politically conservative United States led to the creation of queer digital social groups: online groups which provided both information and support to their users in facing the effects of the AIDS crisis. These groups functioned as “virtual communities”, digital spaces where strangers met based on shared interest, and formed deep and meaningful relationships online. Users and creators of the virtual communities self-determined the norms and values of their communities, leading to a destigmatisation of AIDS and the creation of supportive network. These virtual communities had an important role as emotional refuges: spaces where the normative order of emotions created by the emotional regime of the United States government could be challenged and subverted, leading the communities to be spaces where members could express their feelings on the AIDS crisis and be met with emotional support. Virtuality was of great importance to these groups, as it provided the opportunity to communicate up-to-date information to a wide audience and created the space in which cultural norms and values could be challenged. At the same time, virtuality had limitations as it was not accessible to all. Furthermore, virtual communities were rarely fully online, demonstrating the lack of clear delineation between the virtual and the real world. This thesis explores the history of queer digital social groups through the lens of digital history, with a particular focus on themes of community and emotion, relying on Howard Rheingold’s theory of virtual communities and William Reddy’s theory of emotional regimes and refuges.