The Subtleties of Self-Presentation: A study of sensitive disclosure among sexual minority adolescents

Disclosing sensitive information online, such as an LGBTQ+ identity or potentially stigmatized behavior, can be necessary for many reasons, especially for those who identify as LGBTQ+ and may rely on social platforms for meeting others and social support. At the same time, these disclosures can lead to harassment and stigmatization. Evidence suggests that today's social platforms provide many more options and opportunities for sensitive disclosure than are possible offline, but we lack a taxonomy of disclosure strategies. Drawing on Goffman's self-presentation framework, we examined two types of sensitive disclosure within the cisgender male adolescent gay, bisexual, and/or queer (GBQ) population: revealing one's GBQ identity on social media and revealing the use of an anti-HIV medication, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), on both social media and dating apps. We find that today's online environment, with its different affordances, provides new opportunities for disclosure, such as the use of associations, repeated over time. Participants had distinct ideas about what disclosures were normative and relevant to particular social platforms and audiences. Lastly, we discuss suggestions for how platform design might promote sensitive disclosure.