Social media affordances of LGBTQIA+ expression and community formation

This is the repository connected to the outcomes of a survey amongst 110 LGBTQIA+ users contacted via Prolific academic.

Faced with offline discrimination, LGBTQIA+ users frequently turn to social media to find role models, build social networks and try out new forms of self-expression. Each platform has its own affordances and governance processes which can, in turn, facilitate or stunt self-expression and community growth, yet relatively little is known about how members of the LGBTQIA+ community navigate these affordances. Through a qualitative survey of over 100 LGBTQIA+ participants, this paper considers which social media affordances facilitate the creation and development of an LGBTQIA+ identity, support online and offline community formation and peer-to-peer learning, whilst limiting opportunities for online abuse.

The associated data sets features the anonymysed survey responses.