What are affinity spaces?
Affinity spaces are places (online or offline) where people come together based on shared interests, passions, goals, and activities, as opposed to sharing the same demographics (Gee, 2004).
They can be about any topic or activity, from video games to gardening to music. Examples of affinity spaces include chess clubs, online forums or subreddits dedicated to specific topics such as cosplayers or fanfiction writing communities.
Many ways to be part of a community
In these spaces, people can learn from each other or work towards a common goal. There are many different ways to participate, all of which are important.
Some people might contribute lots of posts or create videos about the chosen topic, while others might prefer to comment on or just read other people’s work. Newcomers and experts alike share the same space and there are many ways to gain ‘status’ in the community.
Different ways of learning and sharing
By participating in an affinity space, members teach and learn from each other informally so that everyone can improve their knowledge and skills. For example, participants could share their creations and receive feedback from others, or come together to create a ‘wiki’ or list of resources about their chosen topic or activity.
Many forms of knowledge and expertise are valued in these spaces, including in-depth specialist knowledge, generalised knowledge, and implicit forms of knowledge.
Sharing interests in affinity spaces can foster mutual understanding, and “help overcome” the ‘double empathy problem’ in which “neither party grasps the other’s intent” – Murray, 2018
Why are affinity spaces important?
While everyone has interests and hobbies, autistic people might have more specific areas of interest, or these might be more long-lasting and experienced more intensely.
One theory suggests that a feature of autism is a ‘monotropic’ processing style, “a tendency to focus on relatively few things, relatively intensely, and to tune out or lose track of things outside of this attention tunnel.” Because of this, it can be difficult or even painful to stop focusing on interests or to have attention diverted elsewhere.
Our interests are part of who we are
A lot of research has characterised autistic focused interests negatively, for example by claiming they are ‘restrictive,’ ‘unusual,’ or that they obstruct functioning and productivity.
However, for many people, these interests are a big part of who they are. Engaging with interests can help reduce anxiety and stress, and increases confidence and overall well-being. They are not something to be discouraged, but should be supported and embraced.
On social media, people can participate in affinity spaces dedicated to their interests. Extensive, specialist knowledge is valued, and one can talk about an interest in-depth and have their knowledge and expertise affirmed and validated by other users.
Providing a space for socialising and support
In addition, affinity spaces may play a role during the transition to adulthood, which can be a difficult time for young people – informal social groups and interest-driven communities may be important sources of social support.
Overall, affinity spaces offer fun, entertainment, learning, and social connection. They therefore represent an important opportunity for researchers to understand the social practices and communication preferences of young autistic people.
What can we learn from them?
By studying how communication evolves in these affinity spaces, we can improve our understanding of autistic communication preferences and strengths. We can find out what needs to be done to improve existing affinity spaces so that they can better support autistic communicative preferences and needs.
Context is important
A lot of research has focused on teaching ‘social skills,’ changing behaviours in order to ‘fit in’ better with non-autistic people in social groups, or has examined autistic people’s communication without paying enough attention to the specific context.
However, we communicate differently depending on several factors: who we are talking to; where the conversation is taking place; and what the topic is about.
While some research notes differences in autistic communication when talking about areas of interest (e.g. Winter-Messiers, 2007; Aizaki, Walton, and Lewis, 2023), this is limited and has not examined data from social media. This is important, because many autistic people prefer to communicate with others online rather than face-to-face.
Building more inclusive spaces
We want to understand autistic strengths when interacting on topics of interest in online spaces, as well as any barriers or difficulties faced when participating in these spaces.
In doing so, we can find out how we can improve the online environment so that both new and existing affinity spaces can become more inclusive of autistic sensory needs and communicative practices, allowing everyone to receive the full array of benefits from participating in them.
