Abstract
Transgender individuals use the Internet, especially social media, to help establish and confirm their gender identity and to discover information which could be beneficial during medical transition. Transgender individuals often need to seek social support, because traditional health environments can be a personally negative experience, can be unequipped to address their particular needs, and can be a place of potential discrimination. Using Gottlieb's (1978) framework of social support, the purpose of this study was to better understand the use of social media by transgender individuals seeking social support related to medical transition. Qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews produced three themes: (1) Google It, (2) Connections that Empower, and (3) Sense of Self-discovery. These themes show how transgender individuals use social media to seek medical information and to negotiate their health identity. Conclusions demonstrate the usefulness of social media for trans gender individuals and provide implications for improving healthcare and support for transgender individuals.
Journal Title
Iowa Journal of Communication
Volume
48
Issue
1
First Page
36
Last Page
54
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Ross, Katy A. and Scholl, Juliann C.
(2016)
"Socially Supported Transition: How Transgender Individuals use the Internet to Navigate Medical Transition,"
Iowa Journal of Communication: Vol. 48:
No.
1, Article 6.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ijc/vol48/iss1/6
Copyright
©2016 Iowa Communication Association
