Make, Share, Care: Social Media and LGBTQ Youth Engagement

Social media is potentially a very useful tool for grassroots organisations that concern themselves with political action for social justice and/or the provision of community facing support services, such as LGBTQ charities and community groups. Social networking sites in particular offer the possibility of communicating with multiple constituencies and can be used to publicise services, campaign, engage potential sponsors, create peer networks, as well as communicate directly with existing and new service users.

When it comes to LGBTQ youth engagement, social media outreach work offers a means to effectively reach its target group. In light of recent research in the USA, that suggests a significant difference by sexual orientation among youth in relying on online sources for sexual health information (78 per cent of LGBTQ youth compared to 19 per cent of heterosexual youth), it can be argued that an online presence is an essential dimension for organisations working with LGBTQ youth in any capacity.

This collaborative project addresses the challenges and possibilities of social media to help generate and support outreach work with young LGBTQ people in the context of youth services. This involves among other things looking at how commercial, mainstream social media platforms are utilised in pragmatic and sometimes dissident ways to fit the needs of marginalised youth, highlighting in particular the praxis of making, sharing and caring online.

Rainbow-paints

Project timeframe

The project ran from October 2012 to February 2014.

Allsorts-youth-project

Project aims

The project aimed to investigate the use of digital and social media in LGBTQU youth engagement and outreach work.

Project findings and impact

Key findings were that:

  • there was a pragmatic use of mainstream social media platforms
  • there was a culture of make –share – care intersecting the different services and social media environments
  • Social Media was energised by mix of user-created content and a range of materials from more established groups/media 
  • the potential to offer anonymity was a low priority
  • rigorous e-safety protocols can inhibit outreach work.

Research team

Outputs

Choudrey, S., Devine, M., Jenzen, O. and Karl, I. (2015) ‘Mediating Trans* Youth: Sexual cultures, youth engagement work and education in/through social media making’, Plenary roundtable at the conference Sexual Cultures 2: Academia meets Activism, University of Sunderland, 8-10 April. Co-presented with Allsorts youth workers.

Jenzen, O., and Karl, I. (2014) Make, share, care: Social media and LGBTQ youth engagement. Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology, No.5.

Jenzen, O. and Allsorts (2014), Social Media @ Allsorts in Lockton, D., Greene, C., Casey, A., Raby, E., & Vickress, A. (eds) Creative Citizens’ Variety Pack: Inspiring digital ideas from community projects, London: Royal College of Art. ISBN 978-1-907342974.

Also see:

Jenzen, O., and Karl, I. (2014) Reaching – , 33, 11-12.

Jenzen, O. and Karl, I. (2013) ‘Social media and LGBTQ Youth Mental Health Support –reaching the hard to reach’ at the Social Media conference (Fourth Annual Transforming Audiences Conference), University of Westminster, 2-3 September.

We also had input on the following publication by Allsorts: A Simple Guide to Digital and Social Media

Partners