Why LGBTQ+ teens, young adults feel safer online

Marketplace Tech

American Public Media

Technology, News

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There’s been mounting concern in recent years about the harms of social media use for kids. The sites can be addictive, ripe for cyberbullying and contribute to increased rates of body dysmorphia, anxiety and depression.

The growing evidence has led at least a dozen states to pass laws attempting to restrict access to online platforms for kids. The Kids Off Social Media Act, a bipartisan bill in the Senate, would bar minors under 13 from social media.

But despite the risks, there can be benefits to finding communities online, especially for LGBTQ+ teens and young adults. A recent report jointly released by the Born This Way Foundation and the nonprofit Hopelab found that young people in these demographics felt significantly safer expressing their identities online compared to in-person spaces.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Social media isn't all bad for some young people. From American Public Media, this is Marketplace Tech. I'm Megan McCarty Carrino.
0:10.0	There's been mounting concern in recent years about the harms of social media use for kids.
0:26.1	The sites can be addictive, ripe for cyberbullying, and contribute to increased rates of body dysmorphia, anxiety, and depression.
0:34.7	The growing evidence has led at least a dozen states to pass laws attempting to
0:39.2	restrict access to online platforms for kids. A bipartisan bill in the Senate, the kids off-social
0:45.6	media act, would bar minors under 13 from social media. But despite the risks, there can be benefits
0:52.8	to finding communities online, especially for
0:56.6	LGBTQ plus teens and young adults, according to a recent report from the nonprofit Hope Lab and the
1:03.5	Born This Way Foundation. It found they felt significantly safer expressing their identities
1:08.8	online compared to in-person spaces.
1:12.7	Marketplace techs Jesus Alvarado has the story.
1:16.1	Micah Reyes, a 24-year-old trans man, has carved out different queer communities on the internet
1:21.7	he feels are safer than real-world spaces.
1:25.2	You may be in a part of the world where there's a bigger LGBTQ plus population, but there are those
1:31.8	who may be in an area where there is not a big community surrounding them.
1:37.9	And so that's why those online spaces are really important.
1:40.5	According to recent data from Hope Lab and the Born This Way Foundation, about 80% of LGBTQ plus teens and young adults feel safer expressing their sexual and gender diversities online.
1:53.6	The survey included more than 1,200 teens and young adults, ages 15 to 24, and though Micah feels as though his hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida, is a bit progressive,
2:05.1	laws like HB. 1557, also known as a don't say gay law, makes him feel less welcome.
2:12.9	Banning teachers and such from expressing their identity as well as potential, you know, lash if teachers
2:20.8	support trans students or, you know, anyone in the LGBTQ community. So, Micah says, he likes to go on
2:28.9	social media. Instagram is a way that I've connected with people and then I've also connected
	...

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