Image Communication And Intimate Relationships: A Study On The Rituals In The Public Displays Of Affection On Social Networking Sites

The core issue of the current study is that how image communication affects intimate relationships under the circumstance of new media technologies. This paper is dedicated to a detailed discussion on public displays of affection (PDA) on Social Networking Sites (SNS). By focusing on its content features and the dynamic process of its manufacturing and distributing, an explanatory framework is proposed to add some new ideas to the contemporary image communication study. By going through the various ritualized characteristics, this paper defines PDA on SNS as new rituals, analyzes its dynamic mechanisms and social psychology, and emphasizes the key functions of images.The paper’s conclusion is that individuals use images to extract the extraordinary parts of everyday life, and make them perfect by beautifying and performing; by showing the ideal condition of intimate relationships to the public, they earn approval and reality for the relationships; then they re-embed all these meaning constructions into everyday life. It is through such mechanisms that images reconstruct the contemporary intimate relationships, as well as become the resistant and constructive tool for everyday life.