Social Media as Marginalisation Machine: The Trans Desire for Solidarity Spaces

As a marginalised group at increased risk of violence, trans people’s perspectives on social media aid us in a nuanced understanding of current issues and consideration of more just futures. We conducted in-depth design interviews along participatory speculative activities around a utopian social media application with seven young trans participants to explore desirable and meaningful social media. Participants reported experiences of algorithmic and other forms of violence, and discussed frictions between safety and freedom as they described their embodied experiences of shifting spaces. We identify scale, commercialisation and automation as core issues, and challenge the potential of large-public, profile-centric social media spaces to support human flourishing. Drawing from aspects of social media participants consider desirable and meaningful, we discuss the idea of a shift towards interest-centric, community-oriented spaces that prioritise interactions based on solidarity over those based on identity.