A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

“I made myself a new safety bubble”: Building trans virtual homeplaces




AuthorsJaaksi, Vilja

Publication year2025

JournalInternational Journal of Cultural Studies

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1177/13678779251322782

Web address https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779251322782

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/484890250


Abstract

Discussions on filter bubbles are often entangled with ideas of polarization and the internet as a public sphere. This article explores an alternative vernacular use of the term bubble, as used by Finnish trans/nonbinary social media users. In their use, bubbles are sites of safety and retreat. This article interprets this idea of bubbles in terms of trans virtual homeplaces, as plural and porous digital spaces where trans people come together away from the transphobia of the broader internet and resist a culture of constant surveillance, visibility and engagement. The article traces the meanings these spaces are given, the practices of their creation, and their messy boundaries of membership. Thinking bubbles in terms of homeplace avoids equating digital spaces to public spaces and moves toward thinking trans online communities beyond counterpublics.


Downloadable publication

This is an electronic reprint of the original article.
This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail. Please cite the original version.




Funding information in the publication
This work was supported by the Strategic Research Council, (grant number 327392, 352520).


Last updated on 2025-05-03 at 10:42