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What is one of the first social media platforms you remember using?

 

DeviantArt. I think I was way too young to even be on the Internet, I think I was, like, 12 years old. I probably found out about it because of, like, fan art or something.

 

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And what current social media platforms do you use now?

 

I use Instagram. I don’t know if Snapchat counts. Of course, I’m on Lex. I used to have a Facebook but I don’t use it anymore. When I use Snapchat I’m only talking to people who are my queer friends or my personal friends, but when I’m on a platform like Instagram or TikTok, I’m actually, you know, viewing content from creators and trying to interact with them. I don’t interact that much, like I don’t post my own queer content on those platforms, but I do try to

interact with creators.

 

I just want to be up to date on their content. And I really like interacting with them because it just makes me feel more part of a community, I guess, especially recently with the pandemic. Like,

following queer celebrities or content creators on the Internet has really helped me feel more connected to queer people, especially when I can’t interact with the community.

 

One specifically that I used to go to – I don’t even remember what it’s called. It was some sort of, like, queer dance night or something that was hosted at a brewery that’s in Oakland. It was, like, an open night for queer people to show up and just have a dance party at this brewery and you could, like, drink alcohol and stuff. So I started going to that because it felt less scary than going to a club or a bar, and I really love dancing.

 

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Is there anything that this interview has brought up or reminded you of that you wanted to discuss?

 

It makes me realize that maybe there’s a distinction sometimes, I realized, with, like, younger queer people and myself — I’m not that old, I’m only 25 — but sometimes when I see queer people on, like, social media platforms who are younger than I am, I feel like there’s a sort of a difference in the language that they use. A lot of younger people will describe themselves as nonbinary. That term didn’t enter my vocabulary until very recently, so it’s really interesting for

me to learn what that means and how people define that word for themselves.

 

I didn’t even know anyone who described themselves as genderqueer, it kind of just wasn’t a term when I was growing up. People were just not gender-conforming, and they didn’t have

words to describe themselves.

 

Actually, I guess I should say this — I actually find, especially when I started interacting more with queer people on the Internet, that I felt more drawn to trans and nonbinary spaces than before the pandemic.