Intimately Disconnected
4-5 December 2026 (Friday and Saturday)
The University of Sydney

In 2017, our conference explored the theme of connection and disconnection. Since then, our society has experienced a distinct “disconnection turn” (Fast, 2021). Concepts such as “non-use,” “withdrawal,” and “resistance” have been increasingly applied to various forms of mobile and digital media. Disconnection has been theorised as an identity practice (Agai, 2022) and as a manifestation of class dynamics (Fast et al., 2021). It can take many forms—voluntary, involuntary, or reluctantly voluntary (Cassidy, 2018). More recently, we are witnessing the emergence of newer forms and discourses of disconnection: social media and dating app fatigue, social media bans, a Gen Z exodus from the internet, digital detoxes, trends in unsubscribing from film streaming platforms, return to in-person events after COVID, and more.

For Digital Intimacies 12, we ask key questions that challenge our raison d’être: What remains of digital intimacies when we are digitally disconnected? How do we develop and maintain intimacies while we are digitally disconnected? Do we develop new forms of intimacies because we are digitally disconnected? We invite submissions across disciplines to engage with, question, and appreciate the many manifestations of disconnection related to intimate practices. Potential topics include (but are not limited to):

The cultural politics of digital disconnection
Unsubscribing from _________
Social media and dating app fatigue
Exploration of various forms of disconnections
Remote work
Post-digital intimacies, late-digital intimacies
Enshittification and platform death trajectory
The return to celluloid filmmaking and other analogue cultural practices
Consequences of social media bans in Australia and beyond
Broader practices and phenomena related to digital intimacies

Submission Categories

We seek submissions on themes related to disconnection, suggested topics above, and digital intimacies more broadly:

Individual papers: Traditional academic presentations.
Pre-constituted panels: Panels featuring 4 papers from researchers across at least two different universities.
Contributions are welcome from scholars at all career stages, with HDR students and ECRs especially encouraged to apply. We invite perspectives from diverse fields, including but not limited to, media studies, cultural studies, film studies, sociology, political science, human geography, computer science, human-computer interaction, psychology, education, and related disciplines.

Submission Guidelines

Deadline: 28 August 2026, 23:59pm (any time zone)

Submission portal: https://digitalintimacies12.wordpress.com/format-and-submission/

Individual papers: Abstract (maximum 200 words) and author biography (maximum 50 words per person)
Pre-constituted panels: Panel rationale (maximum 100 words), individual abstracts for each paper (maximum 100 words each) and speaker biographies (maximum 50 words per person)

Please note that this year we are only accepting in-person presentations.

Notification of acceptance will be announced by 15 October 2026, at which time registration will open.