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Cited by 219LGBTQ Health, Identity, and PolicyPrivacy, Security, and Data ProtectionInnovative Human-Technology Interaction

'Too Gay for Facebook': Presenting LGBTQ+ Identity Throughout the Personal Social Media Ecosystem

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DeVito, Michael Ann, Walker, Ashley Marie, Birnholtz, Jeremy·2018·Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
DOI 10.1145/3274313
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Abstract

Most US social media users engage regularly with multiple platforms. For LGBTQ+ people, this means making self-presentation decisions not just on one platform, but many. These choices are made in the face of sometimes-overlapping platform environments, which can have consequentially different norms, audiences, and affordances. Moreover, many LGBTQ+ users face high stakes in online self-presentation, due to the risk of stigmatization of their LGBTQ+ identity, increasing the importance of self-presentation decisions that enable them to achieve their goals and avoid stigmatization. This combination of environmental complexity and high stakes is not adequately accounted for in existing work on self-presentation, but doing so is important to support and understand the experiences of LGBTQ+ and other potentially stigmatized users. We adopt an ecological approach to an interview and cognitive mapping study of 20 LGBTQ+ social media users. We find that participants employ the platforms, audiences, affordances, and norms within what we call their "personal social media ecosystems" to avoid stigmatization while still allowing for expression of their LGBTQ+ identity and the flexibility to adjust their presentation over time.

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  • Work by DeVito and Haimson indicate the importance of safety online for trans people as they become increasingly comfortable with representing their identity.

    “Work by DeVito and Haimson indicate the importance of safety online for trans people as they become increasingly comfortable with representing their identity [23, 40].”

    From Paradoxes of Openness: Trans Experiences in Open Source Software (2024) · cites this paper as [23]

    The Introduction and §4.2 support the importance of finding safer online spaces for LGBTQ+ identity expression. Section 4.2.2 describes one gay participant presenting his identity more openly as he became more comfortable with it. Those passages do not establish that progression specifically for trans people, so the claim narrows the paper’s findings beyond what these passages support. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • DeVito et al. found that these gaps varied amongst different social media sites based on the perceived audience of each site.

    “DeVito et al. found that these gaps varied amongst different social media sites based on the perceived audience of each site (e.g., certain content not posted because it was 'too gay for Facebook') [23].”

    From Paradoxes of Openness: Trans Experiences in Open Source Software (2024) · cites this paper as [23]

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Cites

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Authors
DeVito, M. A., Walker, A. M., & Birnholtz, J.
Affiliations
Northwestern University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Published
2018-11
Volume
2
Issue
CSCW
Pages
1-23
ISSN
2573-0142 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1145/3274313
OpenAlex
W2899039116
Cited by
219
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 43 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 10
FWCI
18.55
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.acm.org/publications/policies/copyright_policy#Background (vor)
Locations
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation (IIS-1617387)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Privacy, Security, and Data Protection
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
Keywords
LGBTQ+ people, online self-presentation, social networking sites, stigmatization, platform affordances, audience choice, ecological approach, identity expression

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