Abstract
Though understudied in research on language variation and change, the lexicon is a crucial domain for sociopolitical transformations of language. This paper presents a corpus-based sociolinguistic analysis of changes in terms for transgender, cisgender, and non-binary individuals in four online communities on the social media blogging site, LiveJournal.com – one for trans women, one for trans men, one for non-binary people, and another for transgender people in general – that were popular in the 2000s. Using innovative corpus methods that utilize general purpose cloud computing tools, we focus on changes in the popularity of labels for trans, cis, and non-binary people, the factors that impact the variable use of these terms, and what kinds of differences can be observed across the four LiveJournal communities of practice studied. It thereby contributes both to the study of language and identity in trans and queer communities and to the development of methods for studying large datasets of technologically-mediated communication.
Highlights
Why is the internet so trans? In a number of ways, the internet is a highly trans modality
The connection between trans people and the internet comes from knowledge that certain digital platforms, such as erstwhile social media giant Tumblr, have provided opportunities for trans discourses to flourish through the establishment of densely populated online trans communities
There are a number of benefits online spaces offer trans people, including the freedom to take on identities that differ from those occupied in offline contexts, to do so without the cultural baggage attached to our fleshy selves, and to connect trans people who are otherwise socially or geographically isolated
Summary
Why is the internet so trans? In a number of ways, the internet is a highly trans modality. We expand on the findings of Zimman and Hayworth (2020), in which we report on trends in FTM, the LiveJournal community for trans men and other transmasculine people.
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