The Embodiment of Technology by Disabled and Transgender People

Research Questions: 1. How and why are Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr used by participants in relation to embodiment and their disabled and/or transgender identity? 2. How and why are Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram used differently by participants in relation to embodiment and interaction with others? 3. How and why do transgender and disabled people use Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram differently? 4. In what ways are a participant's relationship to their body impacted by Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram? Objectives: 1. To investigate through surveys, diaries and interviews how disabled and transgender people create meaning and develop embodiment through Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr. 2. To investigate how participants use Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr to interact with others in relation to their identities and bodies. 3. To analyse how meaning making of social media and embodiment is developed and at what point social media becomes embodied and to understand if that experience is different for disabled and transgender people. Context In modern society people are constantly using technology, we are on our phones, computers, tablets, etc. from the moment we get up to the moment we go to sleep. We use technology for work, for school, at home. We use it to create, to communicate, and to gather information about ourselves and the world. Many of us use social media websites such as Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr on a daily basis. How we interact with technology and others online impacts how we view ourselves and society both online and offline. The internet allows online and physical worlds to interact, it creates a shared space for relationship building and community creation (Warner, 2002; Hill, 2005; Ellis and Kent, 2011; Tompkins, 2011; Foley and Ferri, 2012; Cavalcante, 2016; Miller, 2017). Technology is something which is always within reach and can be seen as an extension of ourselves (Davis, 2002; Cavalcante, 2016). Although technology is used by many, sometimes its design can be inaccessible to transgender and disabled people (Davis, 2002; Foley and Ferri, 2012). Transgender and disabled people share many experiences related to their identities online and offline (Sherry, 2004; Miller, 2017). Social media is used by transgender and disabled people to find support, validation of their experiences, and bring awareness of issues to a larger audience (Shpigelman and Gill, 2014; Cavalcante, 2016; Miller, 2017). The global access of the internet and social media allows for people to meet online even if they could not physically. This helps reduce the feelings of loneliness and isolation that transgender and disabled people often feel (Miller, 2017). Research about disabled and transgender people and technology often focuses on the physical body, viewing technology as an aid in independence rather than investigating the relationship between people's bodies and technology (Foley and Ferri, 2012; Beckett et al., 2016). This research will take a different approach and investigate the ways disabled and transgender people use, create meaning and develop relationships with their bodies on the social media websites of Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr. These websites were chosen specifically because of their connection to activism, visual understanding of self and creation of group specific spaces online (Murthy, 2013; Rose and Terras, 2017; Serafinelli, 2018). Method Being disabled and transgender, I will need to be aware of my assumptions and experiences with social media and how that will impact my research. My understandings of what it means to be disabled and transgender are based off of my own experiences and the societies which I have lived. I believe that individual lived experiences and identities affect how people interpret and understand their lives (Mead and Morris, 1934; Berger and Luckmann, 1967). I also believe that every disabled and transgender person is an individual and experiences' their identities in unique ways (Davis, 2002;