How social media affects people in the LGBTQ community by Mars Johnson

1. How Social Media Affects People in the
LGBTQ Community
By Mars Johnson (they/them)

2. Purpose
The purpose of this research is to dive into the positives and
negatives of how people in the LGBTQ+ community experience
social media. That includes researching different narratives,
interactions, visuals, etc. that affect LGBTQ+ communities
online. I will focus on positives and negatives as opposed to
talking about all of the negative aspects of social media in
relation to those who are marginalized because of their gender
and/or sexuality.

3. History
● 19th century, 1820s
● heterosexuality and homosexuality were terms that were created and
changed over time
● Uncommon to see sex as a leisure activity
● defining sexuality
● Homosexuality used to mean “general mental state is that of the
opposite sex”
● Heterosexuality used to mean “inclinations to both sexes”
● (Ferguson, 2020)

4. History
● 21st century
● "A growing number of young people are moving beyond the idea that
we live in a world where sexuality and gender come in only two forms"
● (Steinmetz, 2017)

5. Research
● LGBTQ+ representation vs non- LGBTQ+ representation
● LGBTQ+ communities connect and learn about
themselves online
● Anonymity
● Judgment-free zones, experimenting with identity
● Feeling alone
● (Fox & Ralston, 2016)

6. Research
● Queer fan hashtag campaigns
○ #LexaDeservedBetter, #LGBTFansDeserveBetter,
#PousseyDeservedBetter, and #BlackLGBTDeserveToBe
● Creating the future
○ More than symbolism
○ Writers, producers, and directors
● Intracommunal conflict
○ Race
● (Navar-Gill & Stanfill, 2018)

7. Research
● #nohomo
○ cisgender and heterosexual men self-policing
○ Heteronormativity
○ something outside of cisheteronormative expression but still
homophobia
○ a mission to distance themselves from anything perceived as
homoerotic and/or feminine
○ Happens offline and online
● (Ruberg, 2019)

8. Data - Twitter search: #lgbtq

9. Data - Twitter search: #lgbtq

10. Data - Twitter search: #lgbtq

11. Data - Twitter search: #lgbtq

12. Data - Facebook search: lgbtq

13. Data - Instagram search: #lgbtq

14. Conclusion
● Collected data first page of search results
● welcoming sentiments
● attention given to the circumstances of marginalization
● lack of information about LGBTQ+ people of color
● future research should include LGBTQ+ people of color
● attaining resources through crowdfunding

15. Conclusion
● Specific happenings
● Intracommunal conflict
● Conflict with other communities
● discrimination against LGBTQ+ communities online and
offline

16. References
Ferguson, S. J. (2020). Race, gender, sexuality, and social class: Dimensions of inequality and
identity. SAGE.
Navar-Gill, A., & Stanfill, M. (2018). “We Shouldn’t Have to Trend to Make You Listen”: Queer
Fan Hashtag Campaigns as Production Interventions. Journal of Film & Video, 70(3/4),
85–100. https://doi-org.leo.lib.unomaha.edu/10.5406/jfilmvideo.70.3-4.0085
Fox, J., & Ralston, R. (2016). Queer identity online: Informal learning and teaching experiences
of LGBTQ individuals on social media. Computers in Human Behavior, 65, 635–642.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.06.009

17. References
Ruberg, B. (2019). #nohomo: Homophobic Twitter Hashtags, Straight Masculinity, and Networks of
Queer Disavowal. In De Kosnik A. & Feldman K. (Eds.), #identity: Hashtagging Race, Gender,
Sexuality, and Nation (pp. 218-234). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvndv9md.17
Steinmetz, K. (2017, March 16). Beyond 'he' or 'she': the changing meaning of gender and sexuality.
Time. https://time.com/4703309/gender-sexuality-changing/