Lesbians’ movement has been constellated across cities and lesbians have long used communication technologies to relay information across dispersed networks. This article brings together perspectiv...

SEMINAR: Stefanie Duguay on Why Tinder matters, hosted by the Digital & Social Media team at UTS School of Communication (free)

Here’s why I disagree with Jonathan Haidt. Young people have been on a trajectory of worse mental health since before the advent of social media.

Join us to reflect, critique, and imagine the manifold ways that digital, physical, and social infrastructures are built, broken, reconstructed, and mythologized.

Background:  LGBTQ+ people have long used digital media for self-representation but platforms present specific affordances and constraints for sexual identity expression. Analysis:  This article applies the identity modulation framework to TikTok and the account of a user whose representation of lesbian identity is prominent. Conclusions and implications:  While TikTok allows users to control their personal identifiability, it incentivizes them toward a far reach. The platform’s algorithm favours posts with a high salience of sexual identity, though only within the bounds of TikTok’s vague policies on acceptable self-expression. This case study illustrates how one user navigates these platform dynamics.