People You May Know: Homosexual Men’s Identity in the Time of Social Networking Services
People You May Know: Homosexual Men’s Identity in the Time of Social Networking Services

Author(s): Bartosz Kałużny
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: internet-mediated communication;identity;queer studies;social media
Summary/Abstract: In the following article several key points are highlighted from a doctoral thesis entitled Gay Men, Social Media and Self-presentation: Managing Identities in Gaydar, Facebook and Beyond written by Elijah M. Cassidy at the University of Technology in Queensland, Australia. The dissertation focuses on the ways in which homosexual men, who use both niche and mainstream Social Network Services (SNS), manage their identities therein. The research uncovers the entanglements of various practices employed in both spaces and presents complex privacy concerns. It also refers to manifold peculiarities of Internet-mediated communication and the ambivalent impact of mainstream and niche SNSs on the sense of collectivity of the researched group. Having presented the main ideas of Cassidy’s research I determine the connection between his conclusions and those drawn from two Polish studies which recently treaded the relatively uncharted waters of this research area.

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