Culture &Psychology, Ahead of Print.
The massive use of social networking sites makes people ‘increasingly interconnected’. The current paper aims at theoretical systematization of the concept of extimacy. It is defined as a phenomenon of public disclosure of own intimacy to achieve self-confirmation and acceptance of the inner self and to form a social bond. The article distinguishes extimacy from self-presentation, exhibitionism, shamelessness and coming-out. The assumed theoretical contexts refer to shame and identity formation. The study includes sections on extimacy’s examples, possible correlates, social media affordances, as well as suggestions for further empirical studies.