Social Media and LGBTQ+ Digital Heritage

We're getting into the complexities of social media as a tool for engaging with our community's heritage. Your host Mel Reeve, highlights the precarious nature of these platforms, the ethical dilemmas surrounding their use, and the importance of preserving bisexuali+ histories.

We hear community stories from a range of bi+ people, in their own words.

Instagram: @BiHistory
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Website: bihistory.com

This is an independently recorded and produced podcast. Hosted, written, and produced by Mel Reeve. Music by Mel Reeve.

Transcript

Welcome to Bi History, the podcast that celebrates the process of exploring the rich, complex, and often overlooked history of the bisexual plus community. I'm your host, Mel Reeve. Today, we're looking at a topic that's important when it comes to thinking about how we connect with our collective histories. How social media has opened new doors to accessing LGBTQ plus history.

and the moral and ethical dilemmas we face when using these platforms for this purpose. Later in this episode, I'll also be sharing stories submitted by you, our listeners, and members of the Bi+ community. These stories bring your personal experiences and unique perspectives to the themes that we're exploring. Now, let's get started. Social media platforms provide a space for individuals and communities to document their experiences, share milestones,

and organize around issues important to them. These records often capture moments of activism, celebration, and resistance that might otherwise go undocumented. However, the transient nature of social media content presents challenges for preservation. Posts can be deleted, accounts deactivated, and platforms discontinued, risking the loss of vital data. Additionally, questions about privacy, consent, and ownership of online content

can complicate this process. Despite these obstacles, social media remains a resource for documenting the story of LGBTQ plus lives and activism, making it essential to develop ethical and sustainable strategies to preserve this digital heritage. Sharing research or even just posting copies of primary sources on social media has become an effective way to make historical materials more accessible and engaging to broader audiences. By posting photographs,

excerpts from archive collections, and more, researchers and institutions can highlight underrepresented stories and connect people with their heritage in a meaningful way. For the LGBTQ plus community, this practice can be especially empowering as it allows members to reclaim and celebrate their history. However, it's important to approach this with care, ensuring proper credit is given and considering the ethical implications of making sensitive materials public.

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There are also concerns around copyright to consider, which will vary depending on the country you're in. With this in mind, social media platforms have transformed into a kind of dynamic archive, offering access to the past through those primary sources and those personal stories and community projects. They've made our history feel more accessible, but as we celebrate the opportunities social media provides, we must also reckon with the precariousness of these platforms as stewards of our collective memory.

Before we get further into the moral and ethical dilemmas that social media platforms now offer us, we need to think briefly about digital preservation from an archival or museum perspective. Digital preservation poses unique challenges. The rapid pace of technological change often outpaces the ability to maintain access to digital materials over time. File formats, software, and hardware can quickly become obsolete, rendering valuable information inaccessible without proper migration

or emulation strategies. Ensuring the authenticity and integrity of digital files becomes a persistent concern. The ease of duplication and modification can complicate efforts to verify original sources. The sheer volume of digital content also creates storage and organizational challenges, requiring scalable systems and robust metadata practices. Obviously, this all entails an ongoing cost and expertise required to maintain a digital archival collection.

which underscores the importance of long-term planning and investment in preservation infrastructure to safeguard these resources for future generations, if that's what we plan to do. The history of LGBTQ plus communities often involves stories of struggle, resilience and resistance, qualities we can find mirrored in the efforts to preserve that history. Traditional archives and museums, even those committed to improving inclusivity, can be inaccessible for a range of reasons.

some of which we covered in the first episode. For LGBTQ plus people, these barriers can be even more significant. Social media has, in a sense, bridged some of those gaps, which can make it feel like democratizing access to our history, because it's allowing anyone with an internet connection to engage easily with it. But is that really the case? If we think about an Instagram account, like the By History account, which is dedicated to sharing LGBTQ plus history,

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with curated snapshots of our shared past, photos of protests, excerpts from letters. Each post becomes a digital artefact, capturing not just the historical events, but also everyday moments in the lives of LGBTQ past people and communities, and of course the reactions that people commenting, liking and sharing that post have had. It can feel like this is allowing us to make visible the lives and contributions of those who came before us. But of course, this is all relying on content made available either by

formal archive services, or individuals with a vested interest in ensuring that this history is accessible. Inclusivity requires intention. Without care, even grassroots efforts can perpetuate the same exclusions found in traditional archives. For example, if we're thinking about bisexuality, the fluidity inherent in bisexuality often leads to misconceptions and dismissal, both in the LGBTQ plus community and outside.

By curating content that explicitly acknowledges the role of bypassed individuals in our shared history, social media can help us dismantle some of those harmful narratives, but it's not a perfect approach. It doesn't replace the work of a heritage institution or even a grassroots community. We have to confront the reality that these digital spaces are not preserving anything in the long term.

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Thinking about moral and ethical implications, the platform known as X has faced justified criticism for amplifying harmful rhetoric and reducing protections for marginalized users. Meanwhile, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, recently announced a decision to end community fact-checking, which has raised major concerns about the spread of misinformation and the experiences of marginalized users on those platforms. The potential TikTok ban in America has also raised serious questions.

about the intersection of digital access, censorship, and community preservation. TikTok has been a great tool for LGBTQ plus people to share stories, discuss their experiences and identities, and connect with each other. While not without issues, it does have the potential to be a powerful tool, allowing users to share their knowledge and experiences through creative and relatively accessible formats. But ultimately, is this a replacement for true community building?

As we reflect on how much of our personal data we offer in return for these spaces, we also have to weigh up the potential for community building against the fundamentally commercial interest these companies have in the service they provide.

Social media offers a space to experience a sense of community and to celebrate histories of those communities. However, these spaces and routes to engage with our heritage exist at the mercy of tech companies whose priorities rarely align with our own. Policies can change overnight. Accounts can be removed or shadow banned, and years of collected memory can be lost with a single update. This volatility underscores the need for alternative

community-led digital preservation strategies, which many heritage institutions are undertaking. Social media is ultimately a tool for engagement, and like any tool, it has issues. And we have to acknowledge the precariousness of these platforms. I set up the BiHistory project initially on Instagram to share my own research using archive and museum collections as I explored records of BiPlus history. I'm really grateful for the large community that grew from that process.

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and I always wanted to be more than just a social media account. That's why our physical archive collection now lives at the Bishopsgate Institute in London. And this podcast also represents a feeling of guilt that using Instagram creates in me and is perhaps a chance to move away from it more fully. Boycotting platforms like X or Meta's Instagram and Facebook in protest of their harmful practices, such as the spread of misinformation or disregard for marginalized communities.

raises a dilemma. On the one hand, stepping away from these platforms can align with a commitment to our ethical values, sending a message against exploitative or harmful corporate behaviour. On the other hand, these platforms have become vital spaces for many LGBTQ plus individuals to connect, share stories and find a sense of belonging, particularly for those who may not have access to local community support for a range of reasons.

including location, disability, and more. For Bi-Plus people who often experience exclusion from both within and outside of LGBTQ Plus spaces, these platforms can feel like a rare lifeline to visibility and validation. The decision to boycott is deeply personal, as it may result in a loss of access to community, representation, and historical resources as we've been discussing. However, as the saying goes,

the personal is political. Balancing moral integrity with the necessity of maintaining inclusive spaces for connection and activism is a challenge that shows the reality is we need alternatives that uphold ethical and safety standards without sacrificing community support. The impermanence of social media underscores its paradoxical role in preserving history. On the one hand, it does seem to democratize access and allow us to bring forgotten stories to light. On the other,

The platforms that host these stories are unstable and driven by profit, not preservation. A single policy change could erase everything that's been curated by passionate individuals and organizations.

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As we explore the process of discovering Biplus history together, I want to make sure that the stories of the community are at the heart of this podcast, because after all, the history of any group is shaped by the experiences and voices of those who live it. That's why, in every episode, I'll be featuring stories submitted by you, our listeners, our community, and fellow Biplus individuals. These stories are a key part of our exploration and celebration of Biplus history.

The first story I'm going to share today is from Tom, whose pronouns are he, Tom said this.

whose pronouns are she they, shared this. One of my biggest joys is interacting with other queer people and sharing or exchanging stories and experiences with one another. Being young and queer is both a challenge and a joy. However, I love that I get to meet older queer people and know I'm safe. But there's also the fear of family and others finding out I'm queer, especially with the current political situation. I think it's hard to keep friends sometimes, especially female friends.

because there's a lot of biphobia. Once I came out of the closet, I felt so much more comfortable in my body. I think it's extremely important to look at all queer history, but especially bisexual history. There is a lot of inherent bias because of both heteronormativity and biphobia within the queer community. We look at the past almost as a bookmark, a pause in the dizzying whirlwind of everyday life, something we can see ourselves in, but yet something to avoid. The negatives.

to swerve and redirect our lives to stop history from repeating itself. And the positives, to remind us that we aren't alone. There were others, and there will be more to come. Ian, whose pronouns are he, him, shared this. I love the flexibility and adaptability of being bisexual. I don't feel contained in a box of attraction or relationship style. I feel like I found the cheat code to being authentic.

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On the flip side, the challenge is navigating feelings over others' desire to box me in or the assumptions they have. I work, somewhat successfully, at letting go of their stereotypes. I'm married to a woman, so most people assume I'm straight. Some of those that know I'm bi assume I'm gay and just afraid to embrace it. It's weird how that stereotype stands up to the test. People assume I'll cheat. My wife introduced non-monogamy to our relationship at her request, but most assume it was mine because I'm bi.

The challenge is letting go of people's thoughts and not trying to always be the model by citizen. I first realized at age 11, but I didn't know the word and my understanding has changed as I've let go of shame.

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As we wrap up today's episode, I want to thank you for joining me. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe and share it with someone who might love it too. Until next time, I'm Mel and this is Bi History. Ironically, you can find more from Bi History on social media at bihistory or on our website, bihistory.com.