Performing identity and risk: chemsex, misogyny, and algorithmic exclusion in queer Reddit spaces

This study examines how LGBTQ+ identities, chemsex experiences, and digital misogyny intersect and are discursively negotiated within Anglophone Reddit spaces. Adopting an integrative mixed-methods design, it analyzes 509,327 posts and comments drawn from four LGBTQ+ -oriented subreddits through semantic co-occurrence mapping, sentiment and subjectivity profiling, lexical diversity metrics, and qualitative thematic coding. The analytical framework connects three mutually constitutive axes-identity performance, affective discourse, and platform/algorithmic dynamics-to capture how individual narratives are shaped by both cultural hierarchies and sociotechnical infrastructures. Findings show that identity expressions cluster around themes of community belonging, family disclosure, and self-recognition, while trans and nonbinary users remain disproportionately exposed to hypersexualization and digital exclusion. Chemsex discourse is predominantly marked by negative affect-loneliness, shame, and stigma-but also includes solidarity and harm-reduction dialogue, revealing ambivalent forms of care within digital queer cultures. Digital misogyny and algorithmic silencing appear as layered phenomena, manifesting both in external harassment and intra-community norm enforcement. The study contributes theoretically by integrating critical chemsex scholarship with digital queer theory, demonstrating that affective harm is simultaneously interpersonal and infrastructural. Methodologically, it adapts a transparent computational-qualitative triad suitable for analyzing large-scale online discourse. Practically, the results inform platform governance (bias audits, transparent moderation) and public health communication (embedding community-based, empathetic language in harm-reduction outreach). While limited to English-language Reddit data, the framework offers transferable insights into how LGBTQ+ users negotiate vulnerability, resilience, and belonging in digital environments.