Datafication of Digital Intimacy: The Dual Logic of Empowerment and Commodification

Abstract

This study explores the datafication of digital intimacy in female-oriented otome games, analyzing how these games construct databases of idealized masculinities and romantic narratives, balancing empowerment and commodification. Through digital ethnography, walkthrough, and interviews with Chinese women players between 2023 and 2024, we reveal how otome games mediate intimacies between women players and virtual male characters, reflecting sociocultural values and shaping affective experiences. These women-oriented games collect intimate data to optimize design and profitability, offering immersive, customizable romantic experiences while commodifying emotional investments. This dual dynamic underscores a tension in emotional capitalism, where intimacy is both enriched and exploited. By examining the interplay between digital intimacy, datafication, and emotional capitalism, our study further contributes to the critical discourse on how role-playing games monetize personal and emotional experiences, emphasizing the need to safeguard user sovereignty as digital platforms capitalize on affective labor.