New research suggests that the use of rainbow profile filters on Facebook enhances feelings of belonging in members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. These filters, however, do not appear to spur related activism. These findings were published in Psychology of Women Quarterly.
In the United States, great strides have been made in the adoption of policies protecting LGBTQ rights, and in a fairly short amount of time.
“The growth of support for LGBTQ rights is arguably one of the fastest growing social movements in modern history . . . How did people’s attitudes toward LGBTQ people shift so quickly?” study authors Jes L. Matsick and colleagues question. “Although the answer may be multifaceted, widespread networking through technology, and the advancement of social media in particular, likely shifted public opinion and support for LGBTQ-focused causes (Ayoub, 2018).”
The researchers point to rainbow profile filters on Facebook as an example of “pictivism” — a simple form of activism whereby a user embeds a frame or watermark on their profile photo as a means of showing support for a cause. While the use of these profile filters is widespread, especially among women, it is unclear whether these displays of support effectively promote social change or whether they are perceived as inauthentic and “virtue signaling.”
Matsick and team conducted three studies to explore how rainbow profile filters are perceived and whether they have any effect on observers’ attitudes and behaviors.
Two studies had heterosexual women view invented Facebook profiles. Each subject viewed one of four experimental profiles that featured a photo depicting either a same-sex or a different-sex couple with either a rainbow profile filter or no filter. To keep the motives of the study discrete, the subjects also viewed two “filler” profiles.
Participants then completed a survey measuring sexual prejudice, perceived closeness to LGBTQ individuals, and their perception of the profile user’s activism. At the end of the survey, the subjects were told to imagine that they had $100 and asked how much of it they would be willing to donate to an LGBTQ cause.
In both studies, the profiles appeared to have a small effect on respondents’ feelings towards the LGBTQ community. In Study 1, participants who saw the queer profile showed lower hate when later assessed on the measure of sexual prejudice. In Study 2, subjects who saw the queer profile with the rainbow filter showed greater internalized affirmativeness and more closeness to LGBTQ individuals than those who saw the heterosexual profile using the rainbow filter.
“Internalized affirmativeness referred to items that conveyed participants’ willingness to display an LGBTQ pride symbol or attend a public demonstration in support of LGBTQ rights; thus, exposure to queer women’s pictivism strengthens heterosexual people’s intentions for prosocial engagement,” Matsick and colleagues explain.
The researchers highlight that it was filter use by queer women that appeared to be influential in improving heterosexual observers’ attitudes towards the LGBTQ community.
“For heterosexual people,” the authors discuss, “having intergroup contact with queer people through their online visibility and having exposure to their online activism may be the most influential form of attitudinal change via social networks.”
Neither study, however, showed that the rainbow filters had an effect on ally behavior, as measured by subjects’ willingness to donate money to an LGBTQ cause.
A final study followed a similar design but was conducted among an LGBTQ sample instead of a heterosexual sample. An interesting finding emerged — participants who saw the profiles with filters reported a greater sense of online belonging and societal cohesion than those who saw profiles without filters. This finding suggests that the rainbow filters provided feelings of belonging for LGBTQ observers that went beyond the online world and influenced their wider conception of society.
“Although filter use may be a low effort form of allyship and activism, the use of a rainbow pride filter on Facebook is quite influential for improving the online and societal well-being of LGBTQ people who are exposed to people’s use of it,” the authors conclude.
The study, “Facebook LGBTQ Pictivism: The Effects of Women’s Rainbow Profile Filters on Sexual Prejudice and Online Belonging”, was authored by Jes L. Matsick, Lizbeth M. Kim, and Mary Kruk.
(Image by Chickenonline from Pixabay)
