Queer and trans influential peers: Negotiating platforms for community care

Many LGBTQ+ people offer community support on social media, including for young people facing mental health challenges. We interviewed five Australian queer and trans digital content creators known for this support and explore their motivations, community affiliations and negotiations of platform affordances. These creators described their practices as ‘community-building’ and negotiate platform affordances to prioritise community safety. Through their strong awareness of community need, and embracing the social responsibilities of having young queer and trans audiences, participants were adept at enhancing digital safeties for their communities. We offer the term influential peers to describe those who have influence in social media networks but whose work is imagined in tandem with their community membership and an ethics of care. Our findings are useful for acknowledging the role of LGBTQ+ influential peers and their skills in offering valuable community support for young people on social media.