Parasocial Relationships, AI Chatbots, and Joyful Online Interactions

Among a Diverse Sample of LGBTQ+ Young People

New Research Reveals Positive Associations Between Online Content Creators and Community Connection for LGBTQ+ Young People

A study from Hopelab, in collaboration with media psychology expert Dr. Bradley Bond, provides a nuanced understanding of how unique online connections with media figures, such as social media content creators, contribute to the positive experiences, community connection, and identity development for Queer young people.

Our findings suggest that parasocial relationships—one-sided relationships formed with media figures—are strong sources of support and connection for LGBTQ+ young people, a group that experiences loneliness and depression at significantly higher rates than their peers. The data suggest that parasocial relationships are also especially important for transgender and nonbinary young people.Additionally, the report examines the use of social media and generative AI, highlighting that tools such as chatbots may lessen the impact of in-person isolation and loneliness for transgender and nonbinary young people. A greater understanding of the ways LGBTQ+ young people navigate emergent technology and leverage parasocial relationships is crucial to informing efforts that minimize harm while constructing social media literacy and developing policies and programs in support of Queer joy.

Research key findings

Key Finding 1: LGBTQ+ young people report having strong parasocial relationships on social media.

Parasocial relationships are generally strong among the young people sampled, suggesting that many LGBTQ+ young people form strong, meaningful bonds with social media content creators.

Parasocial support is especially strong among white and Latinx young people compared to Black young people, teens compared to young adults, and rural compared to suburban young people.

Key Finding 2: Content creators who are not major celebrities are more often listed as favorites among LGBTQ+ young people.

Young people in the survey listed their favorite LGBTQ+ social media content creators. These creators have substantial followings but are not major celebrities. Their accounts were described as more relatable, less curated, and more frequently updated. Their content often centers on personal growth or LGBTQ+ identity more than major celebrities.

Key Finding 3: Parasocial relationships are especially important for transgender and nonbinary young people.

Parasocial relationships may provide transgender and nonbinary young people with important access to
personal stories from other people who are similar to them. We found support for parasocial relationships
being linked to higher levels of transgender pride and higher levels of transgender community connectedness
among transgender and nonbinary young people.

Key Finding 4: Social media allows for increased interaction with content and potentially with content creators, which could strengthen parasocial relationships for LGBTQ+ young people.

Contact with traditional media figures is very limited in traditional media, such as television and movies. In contrast, on social media, anyone can comment on content creators’ posts or send messages to them.

Most of the young people in the survey (61%) had interacted with their favorite content creator’s posts in some way, and parasocial relationships were stronger among those who had reached out to the
content creator at least once.

Content creators may also respond on social media. Of the young people who had reached out to their favorite content creator, 38% received some form of reply–and parasocial support was stronger among those who got a reply.

Key Finding 5: AI chatbot use is more common among transgender and nonbinary young people than among cisgender LGBTQ+ young people.

Four in 10 young people in our sample reported using chatbots to have ongoing conversations (40%). A smaller number (16%) reported that they had yet to have ongoing conversations with a chatbot but may do so in the future, while 44% reported never engaging or intending to engage in an online conversation with an AI chatbot.

Key Finding 6: LGBTQ+ young people find joy on social media through access to supportive conversations and relationships, via connections to those with shared identities, and by providing a relatability that lessens the impact of in-person isolation.

To gain a more detailed understanding of ways online interactions facilitate joy for LGBTQ+ young people, we asked participants to answer the following prompt: “Tell us about ways you’ve experienced joy from interactions you’ve had on social media.” The top three emerging themes were online conversations and relationships, shared identity, and feeling less alone.