Learn more about my research.
Research on Digital Media and Identity
Biography
Cinar Aydogan is a PhD student at London Metropolitan University. His areas of expertise include online marketing and digital media. His work focuses on the impact of social media in the identity development of transgender individuals, focusing on the different stages of identity disclosure.
Abstract
Social Media is one way people use to connect with others; it offers a platform to explore LGBTQ+ identity in a ``safe space``. Transgender people can ``come out`` to their online communities before they do in ``real life``. The ``online disinhibition effect`` (Suler, 2004) explains how a lack of face-to-face interactions and the anonymity provided by the internet can lead to increased self-disclosure. The extent to which Social Media affects identity disclosure is largely unexplored. This research investigates issues that trans* people face in establishing and validating their identity through online disclosure and the impact that using social media has on the ``coming out``-experience of trans* individuals.
Coming up next
Media History Study Day @ Birkbeck University
Wednesday, 18 March 2020