ABSTRACT

Social media serves as a key mechanism for sexual minority young adults to connect with peers and to learn about COVID-19. We utilized focus groups to explore how sexual minority gender expansive college women (N= 28) engage with social media, including alcohol-related content on social networking sites. Two focus groups were held in-person during the month before the campus closed on March 10, 2020 due to a shelter-in-place mandate. Focus groups were then moved online, and also assessed how engagement with social media, including alcohol-related content, changed in response to COVID-19 at one month and two months into shelter-in-place. Using social media to connect with sexual and gender minority (SGM) content and community was a prominent theme across the three cohorts of data collection. Social drinking via social networking sites became increasingly prominent during shelter-in-place as a way to combat isolation, boredom, and the general stress of coping with COVID-19.

摘要

社交媒体是性少数年轻人与同伴建立联系并了解COVID-19的关键机制。我们利用焦点小组来探讨性少数群体如何扩大大学女性（N= 28）与社交媒体互动，包括社交网站上与酒精相关的内容。由于就地避难所的要求，在校园于2020年3月10日关闭之前的一个月内，亲自举行了两个焦点小组讨论。然后，焦点小组转移到了网上，还评估了与社交媒体（包括与酒精相关的内容）的互动如何随着COVID-19的响应而在一个月和两个月内转变为就地庇护所。使用社交媒体与性少数和性别少数群体（SGM）的内容和社区建立联系是三个数据收集群组的突出主题。在就地避难所中，通过社交网站进行社交饮酒变得日益重要，这是一种对抗孤立，无聊和应对COVID-19的普遍压力的方法。