Digital Traces of Sexualities: Understanding the Salience of Sexual Identity through Disclosure on Social Media.

Abstract

We analyze the expression of sexualities in the contemporary United States using data about disclosure on social media. Through the Facebook advertising platform, we collect aggregate counts encompassing 200 million Facebook users, 28% of whom disclose sexuality-related information. Stratifying by age, gender, and relationship status, we show how these attributes structure the propensity to disclose different sexual identities. We find a large generational difference; younger social media users share their sexualities at high rates, while for older cohorts marital status substitutes for sexual identity. Consistent with gendered expectations, women more often express a bisexual interest in men and women; men are more explicit about their heterosexuality. We interpret these variations in sexuality disclosure on social media to reflect the salience of sexual identity, intersected at times with availability. Our study contributes to the sociology of sexuality with a quantitative analysis, using novel digital data, of how sexuality is signaled socially.