Green, Michael , Bobrowicz, Ania , Ang, Chee Siang The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community online: discussions of bullying and self-disclosure in YouTube videos. ISSN X. Computer-mediated communication has become a popular platform for identity construction and experimentation as well as social interaction for those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender LGBT. The creation of user-generated videos has allowed content creators to share experiences on LGBT topics. With bullying becoming more common amongst LGBT youth, it is important to obtain a greater understanding of this phenomenon.

As the prudish one in our friendship desperate to prove I could be cool, I figured this was a dare. I took the bait. Because it was long past midnight and her parents and little brother had gone to bed hours ago, we were free to explore corners of the internet usually closed off to us. A PG movie fit the bill.

In this op-ed, Mansee Khurana opens up about how her bisexuality burgeoned in the pages of books and a frequently cleared internet search history. I always say I learned about queerness in the secret places — the ones I found while searching for an explanation of my feelings without saying any of them out loud. Even then, without knowing what the word meant or what it meant to me, I felt some sort of shame surrounding the fact that I was starting to stare at girls for a little too long, starting to think about my friend in a way that I thought was reserved for a man and a woman. So, I searched in worlds hidden from sight: Books from my local library, where I was dropped off every week while my parents did their grocery shopping.