Using social media to reach the LGBTQIA+ community
Hello everyone, and welcome to all of my new subscribers! It’s been a busy couple of weeks; we had my Father’s 75th birthday party, my [redacted] birthday, and my whole family got COVID. We are all feeling fine but it has certainly been stressful, especially for a four year old who feels fine but still cannot play with his friends! Luckily, we are still up and running.
This week, I am excited to share a new article that was published with my coauthor, Kim Wiley from University of Florida, on social media. This article, A Framework for Messy Communication: A Qualitative Study of Competing Voices of Authority on Social Media, can be downloaded for free here. In this article, we explored how nonprofits, governments, and influencers reached out to the LGBTQIA+ community to discuss the Mpox epidemic (note that monkeypox was changed to mpox), of which men who have sex with men were particularly vulnerable. We collected almost tweets, instagram posts, facebook posts, tiktoks, and other types of social media from different groups and individuals to better understand outreach.
Some of the recommendations, based on our research, are:
Nonprofits, governments, and influencers should work together to reach out to LGBTQIA+ (and other minority) groups. Each groups have strengths and weaknesses in terms of outreach, resources, and knowledge of the LGBTQIA+ community.
When reaching out to LGBTQIA+ communities and individuals, think about what the LGBTQIA+ community is, not what you want them to be. Instead of applying heternorms onto the queer community, understand that there is diversity in the queer community.
When assessing risk, remember that there is a different between LGBTQIA+ people and men who have sex with men (MSM). MSM may not identify as gay or bisexual but still might engage in intercourse that would put them at risk for mpox. Be aware of who, specifically, you are reaching out to in your social media when discussing things like mpox.
When reaching out to the LGBTQIA+ community, think about language. Some LGBTQIA+ people we looked at in research who do a good job in communicating with the LGBTQIA+ community included Dr. Carlton and PozRN. It is important to remember that what works when connecting to the LGBTQIA+ community may not work with the heterosexual/cisgender community and may be seen as immoral or not appropriate:
Have someone who can stay on top of social media and its trends. With twitter/X changing constantly (and becoming full of trolls and white-supremacists), the best ways to connect with any community is changing too. Understand what different social media outlets do, who they reach, and how to use them in an effective way so that you can focus your resources.
Social media is an important tool for working with the queer community (and any community). But understanding the uniqueness of the LGBTQIA+ community and creating messaging and programming that celebrates that uniqueness is important.