Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 20, 2025

Integrating Computerized Linguistic and Social Network Analyses to Capture Addiction Recovery Capital in an Online Community
Published on: May 31, 2019
Towards a Situated Understanding of Vulnerability - An Analysis of Ugandan LGBT+ Exposure to Hate Crimes in Digital
Cecilia Strand1, Jakob Svensson2
1Department for Informatics and Media, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Abstract:
This study maps Uganda LGBT+ experiences of online hate crime and analyzes how preexisting vulnerability morph in digital spaces. Based on field notes, workshop material, and interviews with 13 LGBT+ individuals, the study finds that digital presences in contexts where users are vulnerable due to state-sanctioned discrimination and social exclusion, digital arenas exacerbate users' vulnerability to hate crimes through their digital footprints. The longing for community and intimacy, together with in some cases an unfamiliarity with how digital media can be misused, appear to facilitate both the ideologically driven perpetrators hunting LGBT+, and Crime passionnel, where an (ex)partner miscalculates the implications of publishing private material. This study thus illustrates how digital spaces are not safe(r) spaces, where LGBT+ are free to playfully explore sexual orientation and gender non-conformity, away from society's abhorring gaze. Furthermore, contrary to what could be expected, LGBT+ individuals' vulnerability was most often not the result of an outside intruder hunting LGBT+ online. The article reiterates the importance of a situated approach, acknowledging the environmental influences when studying and addressing LGBT+ vulnerabilities in digital spaces.
Related Concept Videos
Bullying
Social Foundations of Self IV: Self in Digital Communication
Impact of Social Context on Individuals
Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
Group Polarization
Ethnic Identity within a Larger Culture

