Ambivalent intimacies: entangled pains and gains through Facebook use in transnational family life

Cabalquinto explores the pivotal role of Facebook in sustaining long-distance relationships among transnational Filipino families. The chapter proposes the term ‘ambivalent intimacies’ to articulate the contradictory affective experiences embodied through Facebook use by 21 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Melbourne, Australia, and their left-behind family members in the Philippines. Cabalquinto contends that the conflation of communicative opportunities and challenges is shaped by the interdependence of gendered familial expectations and socioeconomic conditions in transnational Filipino family life. Tactics are deployed to manage the challenges of sustaining intimate familial relationships. Based on data drawn from visual methods and in-depth interviews, this chapter deploys a critical mobilities lens to unravel the paradox of performing intimacy from a distance in a networked era.