Super Tagging in the Development of Sexual Nomenclature and Social Organization Online

Authors

  • Patrick Keilty University of Toronto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7152/acro.v23i1.14229

Keywords:

Classification, folksonomy, tagging, gender, sexuality, pornography

Abstract

In this paper, I describe the ways in which interventionist forms of tagging, such as super tagging, gorilla tagging, and tag bombing within Xtube, a database of sexual representation, reveal complex social and cultural structures among members of sexual subcultures and point to the particularlity of various modes of sexual being and the relationship between those modes and particular configurations of sexual identity. Individuals who participate in super tagging do not necessarily exert significant influence over information retrieval results within a database. Instead, in Xtube, members create alternative, activist, and interventionist forms of tags for personal and social purposes. Particularly for individuals who experience non-normative desire, such tagging practices provide a means for describing and structuring feelings of difference into coherent identities and particular social forms for socio-sexual engagement and self-exploration and understanding.

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Published

2013-01-30

Issue

23rd ASIS SIG/CR Classification Research Workshop

Section

Articles

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