Nearly half of LGBTQ adults say they belong to an online community, and those who participate are more likely than other participants to describe those spaces as places of acceptance, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.
The analysis published Nov. 5 found that 49% of LGBTQ adults belong to an online community, compared with 35% of adults who are not LGBTQ. It also found a higher likelihood of reporting harassment and a lack of belonging among LGBTQ adults who had left such communities.
Pew used a broad definition of online communities, including groups on social media, discussion forums, group messaging or email and online gaming spaces where participants feel part of a community. The findings describe adults' experiences, rather than the effects of any particular platform.
Among people who currently participate, about four in 10 LGBTQ adults said they get a great deal or quite a bit of value from their community. About a quarter of non-LGBTQ participants said the same.
Seventy-three percent of LGBTQ participants described their community as a go-to place to feel accepted, compared with about half of non-LGBTQ participants. LGBTQ participants were also more likely to view the space as a place to share their thoughts and as a place with drama.
Pew said those differences in experiences remained when it accounted for age. Many of the questions about participants' experiences focused on the online community where they spent the most time.
The relationship findings extended beyond current community members. Among adults overall, 59% of LGBTQ respondents said online relationships can be as meaningful as in-person relationships, compared with 31% of non-LGBTQ respondents.
LGBTQ adults were more likely to participate in communities centered on movies, books or television, hobbies, video games and groups for people of the same gender.
Connection and reasons for leaving
Among adults who had left an online community, 57% of LGBTQ respondents cited people being harassed as a reason, compared with 41% of non-LGBTQ respondents. Those figures concern former participants and do not measure harassment across all LGBTQ adults.
A lack of belonging was also more commonly cited by LGBTQ adults who had left: 57%, compared with 44% of non-LGBTQ adults who had left. The survey allowed respondents to identify more than one reason for leaving.
How the survey was conducted
The findings come from a May 26-June 1 survey of 9,750 U.S. adults in Pew's American Trends Panel. SSRS conducted interviews online and by telephone in English and Spanish, and the results were weighted to represent the adult population.
The full survey's margin of sampling error was plus or minus 1.4 percentage points. The LGBTQ sample included 726 respondents, with a margin of plus or minus 5.1 points; estimates for narrower groups have additional uncertainty.
The work was supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. It is a national survey of reported experiences and attitudes, not a regional estimate or evidence that joining an online community causes a particular outcome.
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