Dr Hanne M Stegeman (she/her)

I am a researcher of digital media especially interested in how people experience intimacy on the internet. My work is concerned with the digital spaces people use to express intimate feelings, share sexual content, or learn about sexuality. It explores the tension between the freedom and anonymity the internet offers for sexual exploration and competing private interests, censorship and potential privacy risks. Rather than judging the existence of sexual content online as either 'bad' or ' good' I try and understand why and how people engage in digital intimacy and how they make that work for them. My research explores how people use digital platforms for sexual interactions, the risks and benefits of doing so, and how platform companies govern expressions of sexuality. I approach issues from interdisciplinary perspectives across media studies, gender and sexualities, industrial relations and sociology. 

Some of my research interests are:

• Digital intimacy
• Gig labour
• Young people's online experiences
• Platform governance
• Sex work
• Digital content creation
• Influencer culture
• Online sex education

My PhD research at the University of Amsterdam explored experiences of online sex work in Europe. Drawing on interviews with sex workers in the Netherlands, Romania and the United Kingdom I outlined the risks, rewards, and strategies central to this industry. Theoretically grounded in a Marxist-feminist approach it treated online sex work as work and explored the labour conditions in this industry. Findings from this research project has been published in journals such as Social Media + Society, Sexualities and Gender, Work and Organization. 

My expertise on digital intimacy and online sex work has allowed me to collaborate with NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and consult on platform and UNESCO policies.