In this blog post, we will share some preliminary survey results with you.
Our survey closed on May 15th, 2024. We received over 150 responses – thank you to everyone who took part! We are still analysing the results, but for now here is a preview.
The aim of the survey was to gain a general overview of how autistic young people use social media to engage with interests. We wanted to learn more about the social media platforms people use, the types of activities people do online, and the overall experience of using social media.
First, most people who took the survey said they did have a particular interest that they mentioned on social media. These interests spanned a wide variety of topics, ranging from popular media, to animals, to sport. Autism, neurodiversity, and mental health were especially common interests! See this word cloud for more examples of interests that people mentioned:
The most frequently used social media platform was Instagram, followed by YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and X (Twitter). Many respondents said they used these sites because they were familiar or easy to use. In addition, many people said it’s easy to find posts about certain topics and find communities of people who share the same interests on these platforms.
When engaging with interests on social media, people reported feeling happy, calm, and excited. Most participants said they were able to do at least some of the activities that are important to them. Furthermore, respondents said that they tended to write more posts, longer posts, and more detailed posts on social media about their area of interest. Many people also said they were better at starting conversations and keeping a conversation going if it was about their interest.
However, a lot of survey respondents said they hadn’t told other social media users they were autistic. Similarly, many people said they needed to ‘mask’ at least some of the time when using social media. Some participants reported feeling anxious, self-conscious, or stressed – especially when they were creating original posts or joining a new social media group. Finally, respondents said that they were more likely to read or watch other people’s social media content, rather than create their own.
Overall, our survey suggests that using social media to engage with your interests can be a positive and enjoyable experience. It’s easy to find information about your interests as well as other users who share your passions. It can also be easier to communicate with other people in these interest-based social media groups, compared to face-to-face settings. At the same time, it’s clear that there are still many barriers and issues with accessibility and inclusion on social media platforms.
This blog post is intended to give you first glimpse of our survey findings. We are now going to analyse the full findings in more detail and find out the major trends. After we have finished analysing the survey, we will invite participants to interviews. In these interviews, we can discuss issues surrounding social media, focused interests, and accessibility in more depth.
