Mapping the social implications of platform algorithms for LGBTQ+ communities
LGBTQ+ communities were among the first to appropriate the Internet to experiment with their identities and socialize outside of mainstream society. Recently, those platforms have implemented algorithmic systems that curate, exploit, and predict user practices and identities. Yet, the social implic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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DIGSUM
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Digital Social Research |
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| Online Access: | https://publicera.kb.se/jdsr/article/view/23626 |
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| _version_ | 1850178507891539968 |
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| author | David Myles Stefanie Duguay Lucia Flores Echaiz |
| author_facet | David Myles Stefanie Duguay Lucia Flores Echaiz |
| author_sort | David Myles |
| collection | DOAJ |
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LGBTQ+ communities were among the first to appropriate the Internet to experiment with their identities and socialize outside of mainstream society. Recently, those platforms have implemented algorithmic systems that curate, exploit, and predict user practices and identities. Yet, the social implications that platform algorithms raise for LGBTQ+ communities remain largely unexplored. At the intersection of media and communication studies, science and technology studies, as well as gender and sexuality studies, this paper maps the main issues that platform algorithms raise for LGBTQ+ users and analyzes their implications for social justice and equity. To do so, it identifies and discusses public controversies through a review and analysis of journalistic articles. Our analysis points to five important algorithmic issues that affect the lives of LGBTQ+ users in ways that require additional scrutiny from researchers, policymakers, and tech developers alike: the ability for sorting algorithms to identify, categorize, and predict the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of users; the role that recommendation algorithms play in mediating LGBTQ+ identities, kinship, and cultures; the development of automated anti-LGBTQ+ speech detection/filtering software and the collateral harm caused to LGBTQ+ users; the power struggles over the nature and effects of visibility afforded to LGBTQ+ issues/people online; and the overall enactment of cisheteronormative biases through platform affordances.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-625606a0ca6c424d9bbcb1b9188cae4d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2003-1998 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | DIGSUM |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Digital Social Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-625606a0ca6c424d9bbcb1b9188cae4d2025-08-20T02:18:43ZengDIGSUMJournal of Digital Social Research2003-19982023-09-015410.33621/jdsr.v5i4.162Mapping the social implications of platform algorithms for LGBTQ+ communitiesDavid MylesStefanie DuguayLucia Flores Echaiz LGBTQ+ communities were among the first to appropriate the Internet to experiment with their identities and socialize outside of mainstream society. Recently, those platforms have implemented algorithmic systems that curate, exploit, and predict user practices and identities. Yet, the social implications that platform algorithms raise for LGBTQ+ communities remain largely unexplored. At the intersection of media and communication studies, science and technology studies, as well as gender and sexuality studies, this paper maps the main issues that platform algorithms raise for LGBTQ+ users and analyzes their implications for social justice and equity. To do so, it identifies and discusses public controversies through a review and analysis of journalistic articles. Our analysis points to five important algorithmic issues that affect the lives of LGBTQ+ users in ways that require additional scrutiny from researchers, policymakers, and tech developers alike: the ability for sorting algorithms to identify, categorize, and predict the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of users; the role that recommendation algorithms play in mediating LGBTQ+ identities, kinship, and cultures; the development of automated anti-LGBTQ+ speech detection/filtering software and the collateral harm caused to LGBTQ+ users; the power struggles over the nature and effects of visibility afforded to LGBTQ+ issues/people online; and the overall enactment of cisheteronormative biases through platform affordances. https://publicera.kb.se/jdsr/article/view/23626algorithmsdigital platformsLGBTQ+ communities |
| spellingShingle | David Myles Stefanie Duguay Lucia Flores Echaiz Mapping the social implications of platform algorithms for LGBTQ+ communities Journal of Digital Social Research algorithms digital platforms LGBTQ+ communities |
| title | Mapping the social implications of platform algorithms for LGBTQ+ communities |
| title_full | Mapping the social implications of platform algorithms for LGBTQ+ communities |
| title_fullStr | Mapping the social implications of platform algorithms for LGBTQ+ communities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mapping the social implications of platform algorithms for LGBTQ+ communities |
| title_short | Mapping the social implications of platform algorithms for LGBTQ+ communities |
| title_sort | mapping the social implications of platform algorithms for lgbtq communities |
| topic | algorithms digital platforms LGBTQ+ communities |
| url | https://publicera.kb.se/jdsr/article/view/23626 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT davidmyles mappingthesocialimplicationsofplatformalgorithmsforlgbtqcommunities AT stefanieduguay mappingthesocialimplicationsofplatformalgorithmsforlgbtqcommunities AT luciafloresechaiz mappingthesocialimplicationsofplatformalgorithmsforlgbtqcommunities |