Intimacy in digital era: Bibliometric análisis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51660/Keywords:
digital intimacy, romantic relationships, boundaries, gender, social media, public policy., digital intimacy, romantic relationships, boundaries, gender, social media, public policyAbstract
Objective. To analyze the dynamics of digital intimacy in romantic relationships, focusing on the identification and management of boundaries in virtual environments, through a scoping review of recent academic literature. Method. A scoping review was conducted on articles published between 2014 and 2025, selected from the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases, based on thematic relevance and recency. Results. The review highlighted the complexity of setting and maintaining boundaries in digital intimacy, influenced by variables such as communication, trust, and cultural context. A gender asymmetry in discourse was identified: women are predominantly associated with vulnerability and symbolic violence, while men are mainly linked to sex, with little reference to care or emotions. Conclusion. The findings underscore the need to develop public policies and educational strategies that promote healthy digital intimacy in couples, with an emphasis on gender and cultural diversity, contributing to greater equity in digital private spheres.
Downloads
References
Brooks, V. (2014). Confronting law affectively: Encounters of a Patpong sex tourist. Law and Critique, 25(3), 289–309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10978-014-9137-5Biorklund, L. M. (2025). “We pay with our life and our body:” Gendered and intimate geopolitics of vias Pa'l Norte. Political Geography, 119, 103317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2025.103317
Bauman, Z. (2017). Liquid love: On the frailty of human bonds. Polity Press.
Carbonell, X., Chamarro, A., Oberst, U., Rodrigo, B., y Prades, M. (2018). Problematic use of the internet and smartphones in university students: 2006–2017. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(3), 475. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15030475
CEPAL. (2022). Datos y hechos sobre la transformación digital: Informe sobre los principales indicadores de adopción de tecnologías en el marco de la Agenda digital para América Latina y el Caribe. Naciones Unidas. https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/46766/S2000991es.pdf
Chandran, A. (2021). Unnatural intimacies and unnatural bodies: Section 377, homosexuality, and disability. Jindal Global Law Review, 12(2), 359–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41020-021-00150-9
Coalition Against Stalkerware. (2023, febrero 20). Coalition Against Stalkerware calls on Apple to mitigate abuse of WiFi Sync. https://stopstalkerware.org/2023/02/20/coalition-against-stalkerware-calls-on-apple-to-mitigate-abuse-of-wifi-sync/
Condit-Shrestha, K. (2021). American fathers, German mothers, and “brown babies”: The intersection of race, empire, and kinship in U.S. transnational adoption. Zeitgeschichte, 48(1), 13–33. https://doi.org/10.14220/zsch.2021.48.1.13
Czyżowska, D., Gurba, E., Czyżowska, N., Kalus, A., Sitnik-Warchulska, K., & Izydorczyk, B. (2019). Selected predictors of the sense of intimacy in relationships of young adults. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(22), 4447.
de Souza, P., Russell, E. K., & Wescott, S. (2021). The ordinary everyday: Centring the embodied practice of classroom teaching. En S. Riddle, A. Heffernan, & D. Bright (Eds.), New perspectives on education for democracy: Creative responses to local and global challenges (pp. 64–76). Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003145806-8
Elphinston, R. A., y Noller, P. (2011). Time to face it! Facebook intrusion and the implications for romantic jealousy and relationship satisfaction. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(11), 631- 635. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2010.0318
Fernet, M., Hébert, M., Brodeur, G., Guyon, R., y Lapierre, A. (2023). Youth's Experiences of Cyber Violence in Intimate Relationships: A Matter of Love and Trust. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 32(3), 296 - 317. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2023.2167678
Gebhardt, W. A., Kuyper, L., & Greunsven, G. (2003). Need for intimacy in relationships and motives for sex as determinants of adolescent condom use. Journal of adolescent health, 33(3), 154-164.
Gleeson, K. (2010). Resisting homosexual law reform in Britain in the 1950s: The passions of Earl Winterton. Australian Journal of Politics and History, 56(2), 191–207. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8497.2010.01549.x
Hall, J. A., y Baym, N. K. (2012). Calling and texting (too much): Mobile maintenance expectations, (over) dependence, entrapment, and friendship satisfaction. New Media & Society, 14(2), 316–331. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444811415047
Hirsch, J. S., y Khan, S. (2020). Sexual citizens: A landmark study of sex, power, and assault on campus. W. W. Norton & Company.
Ho, T. C. (2015). Romancing human rights: Gender, intimacy, and power between Burma and the West. University of Hawai’i Press. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84951010805
Hörchher, F. (2012). Law and literature and the Christian-Humanist educational ideal in Hungary. Acta Juridica Hungarica, 53(1), 23–32. https://doi.org/10.1556/AJur.53.2012.1.3
Huntington, C. (2008). Repairing family law. Duke Law Journal, 57(5), 1245–1319.
Ikpo, D. N. C. (2022). Decolonising the Nigerian law classroom: Analytic diary on indigenous storytelling at Niger Delta University, Nigeria. En Promoting Efficiency in Jurisprudence and Constitutional Development in Africa (pp. 257–281). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13814-0_14
Illouz, E. (2020). El fin del amor: Una sociología de las relaciones negativas (1a ed.). Katz Editores.
Ley 1273 de 2009. (2009, 5 enero). Congreso de la República. Diario Oficial No. 47.223. https://www.funcionpublica.gov.co/eva/gestornormativo/norma.php?i=34492
Livingstone, S., Stoilova, M., y Nandagiri, R. (2023). Children’s data and privacy online: Growing up in a digital age. Media, Culture & Society, 45(1), 104 -122. https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/101283/1/Livingstone_childrens_data_and_privacy_online_evidence_review_published.pdf
Lobinger, K., Venema, R., Tarnutzer, S., y Lucchesi, F. (2021). What is visual intimacy? Mapping a complex phenomenon. MedieKultur: Journal of media and communication research, 37 (70), 151- 176. https://doi.org/10.7146/mediekultur.v37i70.119750
McDaniel, B. T., y Drouin, M. (2019). Daily technology interruptions and emotional and relational well-being. Computers in Human Behavior, 99, 1-8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32831467/
McStay, A. (2016). Privacy and the media. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526401816
Minaya Barrientos, M. A. (2021). El impacto de la tecnología digital en las relaciones de pareja. Socialium: Revista Científica de Ciencias Sociales, 5(1), 163 -179. https://doi.org/10.26490/uncp.sl.2021.5.1.750
Ministerio de Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones (MinTIC). (2022). Boletín Trimestral de las TIC: Cifras Tercer Trimestre de 2022. https://colombiatic.mintic.gov.co/679/articles-229314_archivo_pdf.pdf
Morey, J. N., Gentzler, A. L., Creasy, B., Oberhauser, A. M., & Westerman, D. (2013). Young adults’ use of communication technology within their romantic relationships and associations with attachment style. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(4), 1771 -1778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.02.019
Muise, A., Christofides, E., y Desmarais, S. (2014). “Creeping” or just information seeking? Gender differences in partner monitoring in response to jealousy on Facebook. Personal Relationships, 21(1), 35–50. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12014
Nicholls, E. (2019).‘It’s Girl Time’: Girliness and Friendships. En Genders and Sexualities in the Social Sciences (pp. 81–122). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93308-5_3
ONU Mujeres. (2020). Violencia contra mujeres y niñas en el espacio digital: Lo que es y cómo se manifiesta. https://mexico.unwomen.org/es/digiteca/publicaciones/2020-nuevo/diciembre-2020/violencia-digital
Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS). (2021). Digital health and well-being: A global perspective. https://www.who.int/health-topics/digital-health?utm_source=chatgpt.com#tab=tab_1
Prager, K. J., & Roberts, L. J. (2004). Deep intimate connection: Self and intimacy in couple relationships. In Handbook of closeness and intimacy (pp. 53-70). Psychology Press.
Raghunathan, R. (2022). Everyday intimacies and inter-ethnic relationships: Tracing entanglements of gender and race in multicultural Singapore. Sociological Research Online, 27(1), 77–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/13607804211040092
Setty, E. (2022). ‘Frexting’: Exploring homosociality among girls who share intimate images. Journal of Youth Studies, 25(5), 667–682. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2021.1923675
Tracol-Huynh, I. (2010). Between stigmatisation and regulation: Prostitution in colonial northern Vietnam. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 12, 73–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691051003706561
Turkle, S. (2021). En defensa de la conversación: El poder de la conversación en la era digital (J. E. Roca, Trad.). Ático de los Libros.
Tyszler, E. (2021). Humanitarianism and black female bodies: Violence and intimacy at the Moroccan–Spanish border. Journal of North African Studies, 26(5), 954–972. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2020.1800211
Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones (UIT). (2023). Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2023. https://www.itu.int/itu-d/reports/statistics/facts-figures-2023/
Zapata, I., Vargas, J., y Marín-Cortés, A. (2021). Una revisión de alcance sobre las relaciones entre vínculos sexo - afectivos y tecnologías digitales. Diversitas: Perspectivas en Psicología, 17(2), 20 - 36. https://doi.org/10.15332/22563067.7075
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Sonia López Rendón, Laura Milena Segovia Nieto, Cristian Ivan Giraldo León, Alejandra Hernández Merchán (Autor/a)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.