'For the First Time, I Felt Seen': Understanding What Helps Autistic Emerging Adults Feel Safe and Included on Social Media.

Abstract

Social media is a prominent part of everyday life and is used regularly to connect users with a diverse network of content and people from around the world. Research on social media among autistic individuals has largely focused on online risks (e.g., cyberbullying) among children and adolescents, with limited attention to the perspectives of autistic emerging adults (i.e., aged 18-29), particularly regarding social media safety and inclusion. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand what helps autistic emerging adults feel safe and included on social media, focusing on their lived experience and recommendations for improvement. Data was collected from 50 autistic emerging adults (M_age = 24.57, SD = 3.01) through an online open-ended survey. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we generated three key themes: (a) Welcomed by a community of allies, (b) Curating my experience and (c) Communicating in ways that work for me. The findings offer insight into the features and strategies used by autistic emerging adults to feel safe and included when using social media, and provides practical recommendations to foster a safer and more inclusive online environment for neurodivergent individuals.Lay AbstractSocial media is a part of everyday life and is used by many people to connect with others around the world. To our knowledge, no research has looked at what helps autistic emerging adults (people aged between 18-29 years) feel safe and included on social media. We wanted to understand this. We created an online survey with open-ended questions about social media use, asking 50 autistic emerging adults questions regarding their thoughts on what helps them to feel safe and included when using social media. We also asked for their ideas about what could be improved. We used a type of process called reflexive thematic analysis to look at patterns in what people said. We created three themes that we feel represented these patterns, which we called (a) Welcomed by a community of allies, (b) Curating my experience and (c) Communicating in ways that work for me. Participants spoke about feeling seen and accepted among others who shared they were autistic online. They also spoke about strategies they used to control what they experienced, and appreciated the different ways in which they could interact with others using social media. Participants felt more autism education was needed online, and made suggestions relating to more safety and custom settings on social media platforms. The findings of this study give insight into what helps autistic emerging adults feel safe and included when using social media.