Speaker 3: Candice Rai
In this condensed version of "Private Affects, Online Publics, and Genres of Civic Participation," Candice Rai analyzes how emotions propel civic discourse in the comment fields of blogspace. In this case, conversation heats up when one resident of Uptown, Chicago posts in the publication Downtown Update a video of a so-called "gang riot" taking place outside his window. Rai outlines how discussion participants translate their “private affect into emotional commonplaces” in the blogspace, where feelings are "amassed and made visible" and people gain a sense of identity and publicity through conversation, conversation with possible real-world consequences in the lives of local residents.