Instant networking: when relationships are collapsing

Gathering around the globe out of the blue around something, getting engaged for a while, mindless sharing, and making something meaningful but just in the instant seems to express the cultural vibe of our contemporary society. Current new forms of people aggregation gather and dissolve in the here and now through “instant networking” practices. These practices are based on immediate call to action, transient purpose, simple ways of both forming and dissolving, and ultimately leave behind no regrets or concerns after dismantling. In light of prior philosophical and psycho-social theoretical contributions we develop a conceptual framework depicting the nature and the dynamics of current instant networking practices of consumers, and critically discuss the implications of these new forms of consumer aggregations on our understanding of consumer culture. In conceptually framing instant networking we critically reflect on the collapse of relationality at individual, cultural, technological and ontological levels.