Queer Joy on Social Media: Exploring the Expression and Facilitation of Queer Joy in Online Platforms

Madeleine Steeds; Sarah Clinch; Carolina Are; Genavee Brown; Ben Dalton; Lexi Webster; Alice Wilson; Dawn Woolley

doi:10.1145/3706598.3713592

Queer Joy on Social Media: Exploring the Expression and Facilitation of Queer Joy in Online Platforms

Madeleine Steeds, Sarah Clinch, Carolina Are, Genavee Brown, Ben Dalton, Lexi Webster, Alice Wilson, Dawn Woolley

School of Psychology

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

23 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Queer Joy is conceptualised as a form of resistance to oppression by celebrating queerness in the face of adversity. This research aimed to centre queer joy and understand how it is expressed and may be facilitated in online spaces. To do this we conducted a survey with 100 UK participants who indicated they identified as LGBTQ+ on the online recruitment platform Prolific. We asked a series of open and closed questions in an online survey to investigate 1) what queer joy looks like on social media 2) how queer joy content is engaged with on social media 3) which platforms are perceived to facilitate queer joy and 4) how queer people protect their privacy online. The results suggested that to facilitate queer joy online, platforms should allow flexible self expression and community engagement, while allowing for granular control over privacy and the audience such content is shown to.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Editors	Naomi Yamashita, Vanessa Evers, Koji Yatani, Xianghua (Sharon) Ding, Bongshin Lee, Marshini Chetty, Phoebe Toups-Dugas
Place of Publication	New York, US
Publisher	ACM
Pages	1-19
Number of pages	19
ISBN (Print)	9798400713941
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713592
Publication status	Published - 26 Apr 2025
Event	CHI '25: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Yokohama, Japan Duration: 26 Apr 2025 → 1 May 2025 http://chi2025.acm.org/

Conference

Conference	CHI '25: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Country/Territory	Japan
City	Yokohama
Period	26/04/25 → 1/05/25
Internet address	http://chi2025.acm.org/

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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10.1145/3706598.3713592Licence: CC BY-NC-SA

_CHI25_QueerJoyFinal (4)Accepted author manuscript, 774 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-SA
3706598.3713592Final published version, 925 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-SA

Cite this

Steeds, M., Clinch, S., Are, C., Brown, G., Dalton, B., Webster, L., Wilson, A., & Woolley, D. (2025). Queer Joy on Social Media: Exploring the Expression and Facilitation of Queer Joy in Online Platforms. In N. Yamashita, V. Evers, K. Yatani, X. Ding, B. Lee, M. Chetty, & P. Toups-Dugas (Eds.), CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-19). Article 954 ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713592

Steeds, Madeleine ; Clinch, Sarah ; Are, Carolina et al. / Queer Joy on Social Media: Exploring the Expression and Facilitation of Queer Joy in Online Platforms. CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. editor / Naomi Yamashita ; Vanessa Evers ; Koji Yatani ; Xianghua (Sharon) Ding ; Bongshin Lee ; Marshini Chetty ; Phoebe Toups-Dugas. New York, US : ACM, 2025. pp. 1-19

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title = "Queer Joy on Social Media: Exploring the Expression and Facilitation of Queer Joy in Online Platforms",

abstract = "Queer Joy is conceptualised as a form of resistance to oppression by celebrating queerness in the face of adversity. This research aimed to centre queer joy and understand how it is expressed and may be facilitated in online spaces. To do this we conducted a survey with 100 UK participants who indicated they identified as LGBTQ+ on the online recruitment platform Prolific. We asked a series of open and closed questions in an online survey to investigate 1) what queer joy looks like on social media 2) how queer joy content is engaged with on social media 3) which platforms are perceived to facilitate queer joy and 4) how queer people protect their privacy online. The results suggested that to facilitate queer joy online, platforms should allow flexible self expression and community engagement, while allowing for granular control over privacy and the audience such content is shown to.",

author = "Madeleine Steeds and Sarah Clinch and Carolina Are and Genavee Brown and Ben Dalton and Lexi Webster and Alice Wilson and Dawn Woolley",

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booktitle = "CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems",

publisher = "ACM",

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Steeds, M, Clinch, S, Are, C, Brown, G, Dalton, B, Webster, L, Wilson, A & Woolley, D 2025, Queer Joy on Social Media: Exploring the Expression and Facilitation of Queer Joy in Online Platforms. in N Yamashita, V Evers, K Yatani, X Ding, B Lee, M Chetty & P Toups-Dugas (eds), CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 954, ACM, New York, US, pp. 1-19, CHI '25: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Yokohama, Japan, 26/04/25. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713592

Queer Joy on Social Media: Exploring the Expression and Facilitation of Queer Joy in Online Platforms. / Steeds, Madeleine; Clinch, Sarah; Are, Carolina et al.
CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ed. / Naomi Yamashita; Vanessa Evers; Koji Yatani; Xianghua (Sharon) Ding; Bongshin Lee; Marshini Chetty; Phoebe Toups-Dugas. New York, US: ACM, 2025. p. 1-19 954.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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T1 - Queer Joy on Social Media: Exploring the Expression and Facilitation of Queer Joy in Online Platforms

AU - Steeds, Madeleine

AU - Clinch, Sarah

AU - Are, Carolina

AU - Brown, Genavee

AU - Dalton, Ben

AU - Webster, Lexi

AU - Wilson, Alice

AU - Woolley, Dawn

PY - 2025/4/26

Y1 - 2025/4/26

N2 - Queer Joy is conceptualised as a form of resistance to oppression by celebrating queerness in the face of adversity. This research aimed to centre queer joy and understand how it is expressed and may be facilitated in online spaces. To do this we conducted a survey with 100 UK participants who indicated they identified as LGBTQ+ on the online recruitment platform Prolific. We asked a series of open and closed questions in an online survey to investigate 1) what queer joy looks like on social media 2) how queer joy content is engaged with on social media 3) which platforms are perceived to facilitate queer joy and 4) how queer people protect their privacy online. The results suggested that to facilitate queer joy online, platforms should allow flexible self expression and community engagement, while allowing for granular control over privacy and the audience such content is shown to.

AB - Queer Joy is conceptualised as a form of resistance to oppression by celebrating queerness in the face of adversity. This research aimed to centre queer joy and understand how it is expressed and may be facilitated in online spaces. To do this we conducted a survey with 100 UK participants who indicated they identified as LGBTQ+ on the online recruitment platform Prolific. We asked a series of open and closed questions in an online survey to investigate 1) what queer joy looks like on social media 2) how queer joy content is engaged with on social media 3) which platforms are perceived to facilitate queer joy and 4) how queer people protect their privacy online. The results suggested that to facilitate queer joy online, platforms should allow flexible self expression and community engagement, while allowing for granular control over privacy and the audience such content is shown to.

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SN - 9798400713941

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BT - CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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ER -

Steeds M, Clinch S, Are C, Brown G, Dalton B, Webster L et al. Queer Joy on Social Media: Exploring the Expression and Facilitation of Queer Joy in Online Platforms. In Yamashita N, Evers V, Yatani K, Ding X, Lee B, Chetty M, Toups-Dugas P, editors, CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, US: ACM. 2025. p. 1-19. 954 Epub 2025 Apr 25. doi: 10.1145/3706598.3713592

Queer Joy on Social Media: Exploring the Expression and Facilitation of Queer Joy in Online Platforms

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