This study presents a novel analysis of social network sites as a staged performance of interpersonal ties in front of a third party, here defined as public intimacy. This concept moves away from the current focus on the presentation of self in social media to the performance of relationships. Users of social media are compared to an interactive audience in a round theater. As inner circle network members display their exclusive ties in front of ther users they may also tease them into joining the conversation. Building on studies of Simmelian ties, interactive exchange, and phatic communication the study presents six characteristics of public intimacy along with brief examples drawn from users’ experiences on Facebook and Twitter. It is concluded that by mediating the shift from dyad to triad and from triad to mass community social media do not necessarily entail a reduction in intimacy but rather a concretization of social relations. The recursive relationship between interpersonal ties and mass solidarity is sustained and reaffirmed thanks to triadic interactions of public intimacy.

这项研究提出了对社交网站的新颖分析，将其作为在第三方（此处定义为公共亲密关系）之前人际关系的分阶段表现。这个概念从当前对社交媒体中自我表现的关注转向了关系的表现。将社交媒体的用户与圆形剧场中的互动受众进行比较。当内部圈子网络成员在他们的用户面前显示他们的排他性联系时，他们也可能会逗他们加入对话。在研究Simmelian关系，互动交流和阶段性沟通的基础上，该研究呈现了公共亲密关系的六个特征，以及从用户在Facebook和Twitter上的经验中汲取的简短示例。结论是，通过介导从二元向三合一和从三元向大众社区的转变，社交媒体并不一定意味着亲密关系的减少，而是社会关系的具体化。由于公共亲密关系的三元互动，人际关系与群众团结之间的递归关系得以维持和得到重申。