Out and Online

 The LGBT community has a stronger online presence than heterosexuals on blogs, social networking.  

Gays and lesbians are more likely to read online blogs than their heterosexual counterparts, a poll from Harris Interactive states. While more than half (54 percent) of gays and lesbians report regularly reading blogs, for example, fewer heterosexuals (40 percent) do so. Over the last three years, Harris notes, numbers of gays and lesbians who have frequented online blogs have increased, with slightly more than half (51 percent) doing so in March 2008, and less than a third (32 percent) in November 2006.

While blogs are gaining a stronger LGBT presence, so are social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. While nearly two-thirds of heterosexual adults (65 percent) use Facebook, three-quarters (73 percent) of LGBT community members use the social networking site. Twitter also sees more homosexual than heterosexual users, with nearly a third (29 percent) of LGBT respondents stating that they are members of the site, versus half that number of heterosexuals (15 percent).

Moreover, LGBT community members report visiting social networking sites more frequently than heterosexuals, with more than half (55 percent) stating that they visit them at least once a day, compared with 41 percent of heterosexuals who do so.

"Over this past decade, through many comparative measures—we see first-hand that online media consumption for gays and lesbians is strong and growing stronger," Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications said in a public statement. "A majority of LGBT households are hungrier than ever to stay well informed and to expand their social, professional and personal connections online. In today's uncertain economy, and with companies and organizations competing for share of attention, it is clear that blogs and social networking sites have not only come of age for gay America—but in many ways have become the virtual, new gay community centers and marketplace."

Younger members of the LGBT community often cite online communities as particularly supportive, especially as they grapple with establishing their social identities.

“In the gay community, a lot of people don’t want to come out, [and going online] is one way to communicate with the outside world,” says 21-year old Javey, who is gay and a resident at Green Chimneys, a NY-based social service organization.

He has noticed that the LGBT community is has become increasingly involved in blogging and social networking sites.

Demographically, he maintains, numbers seem to mirror those of heterosexual peers, especially when comparing ages of online users. “Like the straight community, teenagers are more likely to go online than older people,” Javey says, adding that he notices that people of all ages in the LGBT community use the Internet.

While the Harris Poll states that lesbians are more active on social networking sites than gay men (63 percent versus 52 percent, respectively), Javey notes that women in the LGBT community are more likely to socialize face-to-face than online.   

“Men date online, but women are more likely to go to the Village,” he notes, adding that lesbians are more likely to meet friends, dates, and potential dates in New York City’s Greenwich Village than socialize online.

One trend that Javey has noticed is the increase in specialized websites geared at several subgroups in the LGBT community. The Internet, he says, “is a way to expand the gay community.”  

Malaika Ali, 20, a transgendered female and also a Green Chimneys resident, agrees that the Internet offers more inclusion for various LGBT individuals. 

Citing an online dating resource, Ali says, “This year a dating site that had been heterosexual and homosexual now has a transgendered option, and social networks are now more inclusive.”

Despite this development, Ali says that she is frustrated by the labeling involved on sites like these. “The LGBT society puts you in a box, tries to label you, even more so than the heterosexual community, on networking sites. “  

Notably, the Internet also reveals which young people are gay and who are not, but through surprisingly sad means. “In the LGBT community, not everyone has access to a phone or a website,” Ali notes. “I do have a job, I am in a transitional living situation, but there are kids my age who don’t have what I have.”

“When it comes to heterosexual society, those kids live with their parents, and I know because parents pay for their phone, computer, and so on,” she says. “I have a lot of followers on Twitter and many of them are straight. You can tell the straight kids are home, because they have everything.”

Like their heterosexual peers, Javey and Ali advise LGBT youth to keep safety in mind when socializing online.

Ali says that despite the advantages of social networking, it is important to be wary of sexual predators. “Everyone seems to be looking for sex everywhere, even on Twitter, and even when I just want friendship,” she laments. “I have no problem saying I am transgendered, but the media has portrayed us sexually, and it makes me uncomfortable when I am online.”

“You gotta be careful in terms of giving out information,” Javey adds. “The sites say ‘don’t give out your personal information,’ and you take it upon yourself to meet the person, and [the responsibility] is on you, not on the site.”    

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