It seems like the authors of Affinity Online (https://nyupress.org/9781479852758/) deliberately chose to use the phrase “online affinity networks” as opposed to Gee’s “affinity spaces,” but the book doesn’t offer an explanation why. The section that explains the term simply states:
We describe the groups we have studied as "online affinity networks" to distinguish them from long-standing affinity groups and networks that have predated the online world. We call them "online" affinity networks as a shorthand to distinguish them from affinity networks that are primarily grounded in place-based activities and organizations, and we are not implying that they are not "real," tied to face-to-face interactions, or embedded in physical infrastructures.
I’m curious about the distinction in terms, especially as the book references Gee’s work. Time to get in touch with the authors!
This is the website of Kimberly Hirsh. The subtitle of this site comes from the description of woodland goth on the Aesthetics wiki.
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We must acknowledge that much of what we know of this country today, including its culture, economic growth, and development throughout history and across time, has been made possible by the labor of enslaved Africans and their ascendants who suffered the horror of the transatlantic trafficking of their people, chattel slavery, and Jim Crow. We are indebted to their labor and their sacrifice, and we must acknowledge the tremors of that violence throughout the generations and the resulting impact that can still be felt and witnessed today. I thank Dr. Terah ‘TJ’ Stewart for the text of this labor acknowledgement.