Pronoun usage in Twitter bios : exploring new channels for the construction of gender identity and gender expression

Abstract

Social media has impacted how individuals manage their social self and personal identity. A public social space, provides a place to explore and build an identity separate from one’s offline self. Twitter provides a space for online users to express their identity as well as an opportunity to deviate from the offline social conventions of self-expression and identity. A user who wants to signify his or her gender on Twitter is limited due to the social platform's character limitations in tweets and bios. Users and members of social movements and the LGBTQ community have been using personal pronouns to express their gender identity in their bios. This paper explores the relationship between personal pronouns and gender expressions and their relation to the social media platform Twitter. The focus will be on understanding how individuals use social media to present their gender identity and gender expression in their Twitter bios. For these issues the researcher posits the following theory: The queer community utilizes social media platforms as a means of self-expression and identity presentation, prominently featuring their gender identity and expression through the use of personal pronouns in their public profiles.