Abstract

This paper explores the role of co-presence in the emergence of collectives with reference to corporeal communication in online conferences and seminars. It emphasizes the importance of feelings of togetherness and demarcates them from feelings of mere affiliation. The emergence of shared feelings depends on corporeal communication, and specifically on the solidary form of corporeal communication as opposed to its antagonistic counterpart. Under online conditions, both forms tend to generate illusions, since a genuine exchange of glances, which opens up corporeal communication in the first place, is not possible. The missing exchange of glances must therefore be compensated online by imagination and the concentration on linguistic meanings.