ABSTRACT
This chapter considers queer women's participation in digital platforms through the framework of identity modulation. This framework defines identity modulation as the process through which users and platforms shape representations of identity, which occurs through adjustments to the dynamics of personal identifiability, reach and salience. Examples from research into queer women's use of Tinder, Instagram and the discontinued video platform, Vine, illustrate how queer women negotiate these dynamics in relation to particular platforms. Since identity modulation enables participation in digital society, such as through the formation of relationships, community and the circulation of (counter)discourses in relation to identity representations, this chapter argues that it is integral to digital sexual citizenship. However, since platforms present hurdles for identity modulation and place constraints on digital citizenship, the chapter proposes the need to move beyond the model of citizenship and continue reimaging platforms' technological, economic, and governance-related conditions so as to enable greater user agency toward collective forms of participation that challenge and surpass existing citizenship structures.
