Belonging, responsibility and reflexivity: mediated intimacy among Finnish nonbinary and trans social media users




Hokkanen, Julius

PublisherInforma UK Limited

2023

 Feminist Media Studies

25

3

529

545

1468-0777

1471-5902

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2023.2285710

https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2023.2285710

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/500000895



Platforms are essential spaces for gender and sexual minorities to develop identities and build connections. However, even though social media activism has itself been a recurrent unit of analysis, less is known about the ways in which the everyday use of social media facilitates political agency as a form of subjectivity. This article examines the experiences of Finnish nonbinary and trans social media users through a conceptual focus on mediated intimacy. The conceptualisation sheds light on how divergent discourses and institutional sites interweave private and public domains through media, influencing subjectivity. An unstructured diary interview method is utilised to understand the participants’ specific experiences and guide the participants to a better awareness of the feelings sparked by daily media use. Three modes of political subjectivity— belonging, responsibility and reflexivity—are identified. These modes are used to discuss how non-cisgender users navigate their experiences in data-driven media. Emphasis is placed on how the processes of reflecting on one’s gender identity often involves the broader political milieu.


the Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland, Grant no. 327392


Last updated on 19/09/2025 08:19:48 AM