For one group in particular — the growing share of young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer — social media can be a lifeline, researchers and teenagers say. Especially for those growing up in unwelcoming families or communities, social media often provides a sense of identity and belonging at a crucial age, much earlier than for many LGBTQ people in previous generations.
Then O’Brien-Stiner, who is transgender, started using Facebook and YouTube as an adolescent, and eventually found an online group for queer people. He has had some negative and even dangerous experiences online, he said, including cyberbullying. But it was also where he first learned the word “trans.”
LGBTQ teenagers may face additional risks related to their identities, including hateful language or sexual victimization. They are more susceptible to cyberbullying, research has shown, and it can have negative effects on their emotions, behavior and academics. LGBTQ youth go online to find friends and seek emotional support, and to search for information about their identities and health. During pandemic lockdowns, when some were home with families who did not support them, online communities provided them with acceptance.
“The language these kids are using to describe social media in my research is: ‘It’s my home,’ ‘It’s my family,’ ‘It’s kept me alive,’” she said. “We’ve found it has built LGBTQ youth’s resilience, and given them hope.”
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