research-article

Disclosure, Stress, and Support During Gender Transition on Facebook

Authors:

Oliver L. Haimson,

Jed R. Brubaker,

Lynn Dombrowski,

Gillian R. HayesAuthors Info & Claims

CSCW '15: Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing

Pages 1176 - 1190

https://doi.org/10.1145/2675133.2675152

Published: 28 February 2015 Publication History

Abstract

Social computing technologies, such as social networking sites (SNSs), often privilege people who fit within expected, static categories. Thus, users embarking on major identity changes, such as gender transition, often encounter stress when using SNSs to interact with their online social networks. To address this problem and reflect on the design of SNSs and other social computing systems, we present the results of a comprehensive online survey of transgender and gender non-conforming SNS users. Our findings indicate that although Facebook can be a stressful place for gender transition due to difficulties of transition disclosure, support from one's Facebook network can help to mitigate some of this stress. We examine Facebook both as a site of stress and as a site of support. Better understanding the relationships between stress, disclosure, and support on SNSs for these particular users can inform technology design that will benefit people who struggle with navigating a wide range of major identity changes online.

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Index Terms

Disclosure, Stress, and Support During Gender Transition on Facebook
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing
    1. Collaborative and social computing theory, concepts and paradigms
      1. Computer supported cooperative work
  2. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. Interaction paradigms
      1. Web-based interaction
2. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing and business
      1. Computer supported cooperative work

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cover image ACM Conferences

CSCW '15: Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing

February 2015

1956 pages

ISBN:9781450329224

DOI:10.1145/2675133

General Chairs:
Dan Cosley
Cornell University, USA
,
Andrea Forte
Drexel University, USA
,
Program Chairs:
Luigina Ciolfi
Sheffield Hallam University, UK
,
David McDonald
University of Washington, USA

Copyright © 2015 ACM.

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Published: 28 February 2015

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University of California Irvine

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CSCW '15: Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing

March 14 - 18, 2015

BC, Vancouver, Canada

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CSCW '15 Paper Acceptance Rate 161 of 575 submissions, 28%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 2,235 of 8,521 submissions, 26%

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3689710
Corvite SHui J(2024)Social Media as a Lens into Careers During a Changing World of WorkProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36870538:CSCW2(1-27)Online publication date: 8-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3687053
Jonas AVargas SHardy J(2024)'Better than Google': Information Activism for LGBTQ+ Young Adults in a Rural CommunityProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36869918:CSCW2(1-29)Online publication date: 8-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3686991
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