Vol. 15 No. 30 (2025): Teoria queer e scienze sociali: tra sfide e prospettive
Monographic Section

Lost in Representation: pratiche di riconoscimento e disallineamento da parte degli/delle adolescenti rispetto alle rappresentazioni LGBTQIA+ nei media digitali

PDF
  • Raffaella Maiullo,
  • Francesca Comunello,
  • Lorenza Parisi,
  • Cosimo Marco Scarcelli,
  • Vittoria Bernardini
Raffaella Maiullo
Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Italia
Francesca Comunello
Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Italia
Lorenza Parisi
Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Italia
Cosimo Marco Scarcelli
Università degli Studi di Padova FISPPA, Italia
Vittoria Bernardini
Università degli Studi di Padova FISPPA, Italia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/cambio-18714

Published 2026-02-11

Keywords

  • LGBTQIA+,
  • adolescents,
  • digital media,
  • representation

How to Cite

Maiullo, R., Comunello, F., Parisi, L., Scarcelli, C. M., & Bernardini, V. (2026). Lost in Representation: pratiche di riconoscimento e disallineamento da parte degli/delle adolescenti rispetto alle rappresentazioni LGBTQIA+ nei media digitali. Cambio. Rivista Sulle Trasformazioni Sociali, 15(30), 49–65. https://doi.org/10.36253/cambio-18714

Copyright (c) 2025 Raffaella Maiullo, Francesca Comunello, Lorenza Parisi, Cosimo Marco Scarcelli, Vittoria Bernardini

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This contribution explores LGBTQIA+ adolescents’ perceptions of the representations and self-representations of LGBTQIA+ subjectivities in digital media, with particular attention to the tensions between visibility, authenticity, and recognition. Drawing on 21 in-depth interviews with young people aged 16 to 18, the study investigates how online queer visibility is received, filtered, and sometimes rejected by LGBTQIA+ individuals. In this context, selectivity, silence, and disengagement emerge as active strategies of communicative agency, capable of negotiating belonging and redefining the conditions of recognition. The paper invites us to rethink visibility not as an absolute value, but as a negotiated space between authenticity, desire, and the complexity of queer experiences during adolescence.

PDF

References

  1. Abidin, C. (2018). Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online. European Journal of Communication, 33(6), 696-697. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323118814646a
  2. Akter, M., Park, J. K., Headrick, C., Page, X., & Wisniewski, P. J. (2025). Calculating connection vs. risk: Understanding how youth negotiate digital privacy and security with peers online. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2503.22993
  3. Annaki .F, Ouassou .S & Igamane .S (2025) Visibility and Influence in Digital Social Relations: Towards a New Symbolic Capital?, African Scientific Journal «Volume 03, Numéro 29» pp: 0796 – 0820
  4. Bacaj, C., Wang, K., Zhang, A. et al. (2024). Review of current trends in LGBTQ+ youth and social media: Implications for mental health, identity development, and civic engagement. Current Pediatrics Reports, 13.
  5. Barroso-Moreno, C., Rayón-Rumayor, L., Bañares-Marivela, E., & Hernández-Ortega, J. (2023). Polarization, virality and contrary sentiments for LGTB content on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Profesional De La información, 32(2). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2023.mar.11
  6. Barsigian, L. L., Howard, C., Quintero Davalos, A., Walsh, A. S., & Manago, A. M. (2023). Engagement with Master and Alternative Narratives of Gender and Sexuality Among LGBTQ+ Youth in the Digital Age. Journal of Adolescent Research, 40(2), 413-447. https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584221150223
  7. Baudrillard, J. (1985). Simulacri e simulazione. Milano: Feltrinelli
  8. Belotti, F., Ieracitano, F., Donato, S., & Comunello, F. (2022). Towards ‘romantic media ideologies’: digital dating abuse seen through the lens of social media and/or dating in teenage narratives. The Communication Review, 25(1), 30–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/10714421.2022.2033576
  9. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
  10. Bucher, T. (2016). The algorithmic imaginary: exploring the ordinary affects of Facebook algorithms. Information, Communication & Society, 20(1), 30–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2016.1154086
  11. Ciszek, E., Haven, P., & Logan, N. (2021). Amplification and the limits of visibility: Complicating strategies of trans voice and representations on social media. New Media & Society, 25(7), 1605-1625. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211031031
  12. Caruso, A. (a cura di) (2020). Queer Gaze. Corpi, storie e generi della televisione arcobaleno. Trento: Asterisco Edizioni.
  13. Coker, M., Quinn, S., O’Neil, G. & Ruppel, E. (2023). “It allows me to be ‘me’”: Self-presentation, Authenticity, and Affordances among LGBTQ+ Social Media Users. Human Communication & Technology 3(2) https://doi.org/10.17161/hct.v3i2.18641
  14. Comunello, F., Donato, S., Ieracitano, F., & Belotti, F. (2023). Stereotyped gender roles and scripts in digital dating abuse: Narratives from an Italian high school. JCMS Journal of Cinema and Media Studies. 11. 313-329. 10.1386/jicms_00181_1.
  15. Cover, R. (2022). Making Queer content visible: approaches and assumptions of Australian film and television stakeholders working with LGBTQ+ content. Media International Australia, 190(1), 116-132. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X221077851
  16. Duguay, S. (2016). LGBTQ visibility through selfies: Comparing platform mediators across Ruby Rose’s Instagram and Vine presence. Social Media + Society, 2(2), 1-12
  17. Duguay, S. (2017). Social media’s breaking news: The logic of automation in Facebook Trending Topics and Twitter Moments. Media International Australia, 166(1), 20-33. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X17737407
  18. Duguay, S. (2022). Personal but Not Private: Queer Women, Sexuality, and Identity Modulation on Digital Platforms. Oxford University Press
  19. Ebert, N., Geppert, T., Strycharz, J., Knieps, M., Hönig, M., & Brucker-Kley, E. (2023). Creative beyond TikToks: Investigating adolescents’ social privacy management on TikTok. Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies, 2023(2), 221–235. https://doi.org/10.56553/popets-2023-0049
  20. Escobar-Viera, C. G., Choukas-Bradley, S., Sidani, J., Maheux, A. J., Roberts, S. R., & Rollman, B. L. (2022). Examining social media experiences and attitudes toward technology-based interventions for reducing social isolation among LGBTQ youth living in rural United States: An online qualitative study. Frontiers in Digital Health, https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2022.900695
  21. Farci, M., & Scarcelli, C. M. (a cura di). (2022). Media digitali, genere e sessualità. Milano: Mondadori Università
  22. Fernández-Ardèvol, M., Belotti, F., Ieracitano, F., Mulargia, S., Rosales, A., & Comunello, F. (2020). “I do it my way”: Idioms of practice and digital media ideologies of adolescents and older adults. New Media & Society, 24(1), 31-49. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820959298
  23. Ferrante, A. (2019). Pelle queer maschere straight: Il regime di visibilità omonormativo oltre la televisione. Milano: Mimesis Edizioni.
  24. Fox, J., & Ralston, R. (2016). Queer identity online: Informal learning and teaching experiences of LGBTQ individuals on social media. Computers in Human Behavior, 65, 591–604.
  25. Galdi, S., Guizzo, F., & Fasoli, F. (2022). Media representation matters: The effects of exposure to counter-stereotypical gay male characters on heterosexual men’s expressions of discrimination. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 26(6), 1329-1350. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302221102874
  26. Gili G. (2005). La credibilità. Quando e perché la comunicazione ha successo (Vol.167). Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino Editore.
  27. Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books.
  28. Holmes, D., and Marcus, G. E., “Collaborative Imperatives: A Manifesto, of Sorts, for the Reimagination of the Classic Scene of Fieldwork Encounter”. Collaborators Collaborating: Counterparts in Anthropological Knowledge and International Research Relations, edited by Monica Konrad, New York, Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2012, pp. 126-144. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780857454812-007
  29. Ieracitano, F., Vigneri, F., & Comunello, F. (2023). ‘I’m not bad, I’m just … drawn that way’: media and algorithmic systems logics in the Italian Google Images construction of (cr)immigrants’ communities. Information, Communication & Society, 27(2), 386–405. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2023.2205928
  30. ILGA-Europe. (2025). Rainbow Europe Index 2025. Brussels: ILGA-Europe.
  31. Illouz, E., & Kaplan, D. (2020). Il capitale sessuale (M. Chiarappa, Trad.). Roma: Castelvecchi.
  32. Jenzen, O. (2022). LGBTQ Youth Cultures and Social Media. In I. West (Ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Queer Studies and Communication. Oxford University Press.
  33. Kreling, R., Meier, A., & Reinecke, L. (2022). Feeling authentic on social media: Subjective authenticity across Instagram Stories and Posts. Social Media + Society, 8(1) https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051221086235
  34. Livingstone, S., & Third, A. (2017). Children and young people’s rights in the digital age: An emerging agenda. New Media & Society, 19(5), 657-670. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816686318
  35. Marwick, A.E. and Boyd, D. (2011) I Tweet Honestly, I Tweet Passionately: Twitter Users, Context Collapse, and the Imagined Audience. New Media & Society, 13, 114-133. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810365313
  36. McInroy, L. B., & Craig, S. L. (2015). Transgender representation in offline and online media: LGBTQ youth perspectives. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 25(6), 606-617 https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2014.995392
  37. Myles, D., Duguay, S., & Flores Echaiz, L. (2023). Mapping the social implications of platform algorithms for LGBTQ+ communities. Journal of Digital Social Research, 5(4), 1-30. https://doi.org/10.33621/jdsr.v5i4.162
  38. Noble, S. (2018). Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. New York, NY: New York University Press
  39. Petronio, S. (2002). Boundaries of Privacy: Dialectics of Disclosure. State University of New York Press.
  40. Porta, C. M., Gower, A. L., Brown, C., Wood, B. A., & Eisenberg, M. E. (2020). Perceptions of sexual orientation and gender identity minority adolescents about labels. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 42(2), 81–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945919838618
  41. Putra, F. E., & Afrilian, P. (2025). Visual Culture in Social Media: A Study on the Influence of Instagram on Aesthetics and Youth Culture Trends. Asian Journal of Media and Culture, 1(1), Article 18. https://doi.org/10.63919/ajmc.v1i1.18
  42. Ragnedda, M., & Budd, K. (2015). Invisible violence: Media (re)production of Gender Inequality in Italy. Communication Papers: Media Literacy & Gender Studies, 4(7). http://ojs.udg.edu/index.php/CommunicationPapers/article/view/212
  43. Rinaldi, C. (2022). “Visibilità, riconoscimento e differenze: rappresentazioni pubbliche delle soggettività LGBT+”, in Farci, M., & Scarcelli, C. M. (a cura di), Media digitali, genere e sessualità, Mondadori, pp. 51–64.
  44. Russell, S. T., Bishop, M. D., & Fish, J. N. (2023). Expanding notions of LGBTQ+. Annual Review of Sociology, 49, 281–296. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-030320-032256
  45. Scappini, A., Donati, M. A., & Fioravanti, G. (2023). Heterosexual Script in Italian Young Adults: Measurement Across Genders. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 20(4), 1152–1167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-022-00786-9
  46. Scarcelli, C. M. (2015). Intimità digitali. Adolescenti, amore e sessualità ai tempi di internet. Milano: Franco Angeli.
  47. Scarcelli, C. M. (2021). Quando gli adulti negano agency sessuale e partecipazione alle ragazze e ai ragazzi. Adolescenti, sexting e intimate citizenship. SocietàMutamentoPolitica, 11(22), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.13128/smp-12632
  48. Scarcelli, C. M. (2023) Genere e sessualità su TikTok. Identità e valori tra spazi di libertà e forme di controllo in Marino, G. & Surace, B. (a cura di), Genere e sessualità su TikTok. Identità e valori tra spazi di libertà e forme di controllo, Hoepli, Milano
  49. Selkie E, Adkins V, Masters E, Bajpai A, Shumer D. Transgender Adolescents’ Uses of Social Media for Social Support. J Adolesc Health. 2020 Mar;66(3):275-280. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.08.011. Epub 2019 Nov 2. PMID: 31690534.
  50. Stella, R., Riva, C., Scarcelli, C. M. & Drusian, M. (2018). Sociologia dei new media (2ª ed.). Torino: UTET Università
  51. Thelwall, M., Devonport, T. J., & Sudhakar, V. (2023). Academic LGBTQ+ Terminology 1900–2021: Increasing Variety, Increasing Inclusivity. Journal of Homosexuality. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2023.2221409
  52. van Dijck, J. (2013). The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media. Oxford University Press.
  53. van Dijck, J., Poell, T., & De Waal, M. (2018). The platform society: Public values in a connective world. Oxford university press.