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"Where Did All the Lesbians Go?" 
A Content Analysis of the Sense of Community within 

Lesbian Spaces on TikTok 
Danielle Shinbine1, Meredith R. Maroney2, Emily C. Coombs1&4, Douglas, R. Maisey1, and Alayna Fender3 

1Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada  
2Department of Counseling and School Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA

3University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC , Canada
4Faculty of Education Department of   Educational Psychology, Canada

As physical lesbian spaces continue to diminish, platforms like TikTok have become essential for queer women 
seeking community. This study uses deductive content analysis, guided by McMillan and Chavis’ (1986) sense of 
community framework, to examine how membership, influence, fulfillment of needs, and shared emotional con-
nection are expressed in these digital spaces. By analyzing the top 100 comments on two videos from 11 popular 
lesbian TikTok creators, whose followers range from 340 thousand to 9 million, the research explores how a sense 
of community is fostered online. A total of 22 videos were analyzed, with comments coded into key themes. The 
findings reveal how users express solidarity through mutual support and validation, often rooted in shared lan-
guage and collective experiences unique to lesbian identity. Commenters navigate issues such as relationships and 
societal marginalization, fostering a sense of belonging. However, tensions emerge as users grapple with inclusivity 
and representation, particularly around race, gender identity, and the evolving definition of lesbian identity. These 
discussions highlight both the unifying aspects of digital lesbian spaces and the challenges of ensuring diverse voices 
are heard. This research underscores TikTok’s evolving role in shaping lesbian identity and community, spotlight-
ing both opportunities and challenges for fostering belonging.
 Keywords: Lesbian, TikTok, Social Media, Community 

Graduate Student Journal of Psychology
Spring 2025 - Vol. 24

Copyright 2025 by the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology
Teachers College, Columbia University

 A sense of community is a critical component 
in facilitating well-being in lesbian, gay, bisexual, 
transgender, and queer + (LGBTQ+) individuals 
(McLaren., 2009; Meyer & Frost, 2013). Research 
in the past 20 years has highlighted the LGBTQ+ 
community's ability to create a sense of communi-
ty in virtual spaces (Cavalcante, 2018; Gorkemli, 
2012; Gross, 2003). Most recently, the social media 
platform “TikTok” has appeared to resonate with 
the LGBTQ+ community as a whole (Hiebert & 
Kortes-Miller, 2023; Simpson & Seeman, 2020), and 
subgroups within the larger community, including 
the lesbian community (Gray, 2018; Hanmer, 2013). 
 However, research examining how this subset of 
the LGBTQ+ community uses social media to build 
a sense of community online is sparse and virtually 
nonexistent when examining TikTok. Due to previous 
research establishing the importance of a sense of com-
munity for LGBTQ+ individuals, as well as research 
indicating that the community as a whole can bene-
fit from virtual spaces that produce an online sense of 
community, the present study aimed to identify how a 
sense of community is created by lesbians on TikTok.
 It has been well documented that the LGBTQ+ 
community experiences higher frequencies of dis-
crimination and victimization due to their LGBTQ+ 
identity, contributing to higher frequencies of mental 

health concerns (Hendricks & Testa, 2012; Meyer, 
2003). Resilience factors, such as a sense of commu-
nity, have been identified as a buffer against these out-
comes for the community (Frost & Meyer, 2012; Mc-
Laren et al., 2013) as well as enhance protective factors, 
such as social support and self-esteem (Doyle & Molix, 
2014; Petruzzella et al., 2019). A sense of community 
has been defined as “a feeling that members have of 
belonging, a feeling that members matter to one an-
other and to the group, and a shared faith that mem-
bers' needs will be met through their commitment 
to be together,” (McMillan & Chavis, 1986, p. 9). 
 Fostering a sense of community is important for 
LGBTQ+ people, as it serves as an access point for both 
tangible and intangible resources (APA Task Force on 
Psychological Practice with Sexual Minority Persons, 
2021; de Lira & de Morais, 2018). Connection to the 
LGBTQ+ community and its culture also serves as a 
mechanism to facilitate identity development, with 
individuals claiming that the community’s support re-
sults in stronger identity development (Closson & Co-
meau, 2021; Parmenter et al., 2020). However, the im-
pact of a sense of community appears to vary depending 
on one’s sexual identity, with bisexual people report-
ing feeling a reduced sense of belonging when com-
pared to lesbian and gay individuals, which may speak 
to experiencing biphobia within the larger LGBTQ+ 



88

WHERE DID ALL THE LESBIANS GO?

community (Kertzner et al., 2009; Lambe et al., 2017), 
and suggests that the impact of a sense of community 
may vary across different sexual and gender identities.
 Lesbians have actively contributed to facilitating 
community connectedness in the larger LGBTQ+ 
community, specifically regarding their role in the 
contribution of blood donations amidst the HIV-
AIDS epidemic during the 1980s (Hutchison, 2015). 
Although there is less research on lesbian and queer 
women, some research has found that a sense of com-
munity provides a buffer against adverse mental health 
outcomes and enhances protective factors for the les-
bian community (Busby et al., 2020; McLaren, 2009; 
McLaren & Castillo, 2021; Zimmerman et al., 2015). 
Spaces exclusive to lesbians have been valued by the 
community, with lesbian bars being a cornerstone of 
lesbian culture and a facilitator of community con-
nectedness (Faderman, 1991). These spaces serve a 
dual purpose of being a place for in-person connection 
and the flourishing of lesbian identities while also pro-
viding a safe environment against potential discrimi-
nation from the larger community (Brown-Saracino, 
2019; Corteen, 2002; Hankin, 2002; Hartless, 2018).
 There has been a concerning trend of a di-
minishment of lesbian-specific spaces for the com-
munity to meet. In 2021, almost 200 lesbian bars 
shut down, with 20 remaining (Compton, 2021). 
Reasoning for these closures may speak to various 
changes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Rieg-
er, 2020) and the undermining of women-specific 
spaces in the interest of appearing non-trans-ex-
clusionary (Stryker & Bettcher, 2016). This is con-
cerning when considering that lesbian bars have 
historically had either the lowest or second-lowest 
prevalence rate of all LGBTQ+ bars, second only to 
bars catering to LGBTQ+ POC (Mattson, 2019). 
 These closures leave the lesbian community to 
either gather in unwelcoming heterosexual spaces 
or try to integrate into LGBTQ+ spaces dominat-
ed by white, cisgender gay men, with a recent study 
examining that the remaining 15 owners of lesbian 
or LGBTQ+ bar in the USA do not prioritize fe-
male-only spaces (Mattson, 2020). There is a sense 
of loss associated with this decrease in lesbian-specif-
ic spaces, with multiple documentaries and memo-
rials being created by the community to represent 
this mourning (Brown-Saracino, 2020; Clements, 
2019; Denny, 2015). Moreover, physical spaces that 

facilitate a sense of community, such as LGBTQ+ 
bars, have experienced high closure rates due to the 
COVID-19 shutdown of businesses (Mattson, 2023).
 The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on LGBTQ+ 
spaces cannot be understated. Scrogg and colleagues' 
(2020) examination of the impact of social distanc-
ing guidelines on LGBTQ+ emerging adults revealed 
that the guidelines resulted in lower levels of hope 
and community connectedness as well as higher al-
cohol use. The pandemic also had a unique impact 
on LGBTQ+ youth, as many noted that they were 
restricted to staying in home environments deemed 
unsafe to express their LGBTQ+ identity (Fish et 
al., 2020). These numbers have started to rebound as 
more lesbian bars reopen (Glassman-Hughes, 2023; 
Hoeffer, 2023); however, they have not recovered to 
their numbers before the pandemic (Mattson, 2023). 
These reductions of spaces for lesbians are concerning, 
as this loss of a sense of community leads LGBTQ+ 
individuals to be more vulnerable to detrimental men-
tal health outcomes as a result of minority stress due 
to being unable to benefit from the protective fac-
tors and buffers that a sense of community provides. 
 The need and benefit of establishing spaces that 
form a sense of community online has been an en-
deavour that the LGBTQ+ community has histor-
ically been invested in, with Gross (2003) noting 
LGBTQ+ individuals were pioneers in utilizing the 
internet to find community. For example, drag per-
formers have utilized social media to replace in-per-
son performances to combat isolation (Rieger, 2020). 
Virtual spaces which bring a sense of community 
have also been established in response to large-scale 
discrimination, as illustrated by one study which ex-
amined the impact of a virtual forum facilitating 
open discussion for LGBTQ+ students following the 
2016 Orlando mass shooting, an event that has been 
understood as an LGBTQ+ hate crime (Jackson, 
2017). Students from this study noted that the form 
helped them receive support, disclose their distress as-
sociated with the event, and emotionally process the 
event. These attempts to connect online speak to the 
resilience and adaptability of the community, as well 
as the inherent importance of a sense of community. 
 Research indicates that LGBTQ+ individuals 
use social media in several ways, including obtain-
ing romantic connections and friendships (Miller, 
2015), accessing resources (McInroy et al., 2019), 



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and existing in accepting spaces they may not have 
in their offline lives (Higa et al., 2014). In particular, 
online gay and lesbian associations have been cit-
ed as a source of activism, support, and a way to fa-
cilitate an online sense of community (Gorkemli, 
2012). There is a small body of research examining 
this phenomenon of internet usage in lesbian com-
munities. However, these findings are promising, as 
multiple studies state that lesbians also find this sense 
of community online (Gray, 2018; Hanmer, 2013). 
 Burke’s (2000) study notes that personal advertise-
ments online in the lesbian community facilitate con-
nection and community engagement. Burke suggests 
that the internet may be unique for lesbian communi-
ty engagement, as this space may feel safer than a tradi-
tional lesbian bar. In recent research, lesbian social me-
dia content creators note that their audiences feel more 
connected and represented when the creators discuss 
their lesbian identity in their content (Ladegaard,  2023). 
 In recent years, “TikTok,” a social media applica-
tion focused on video sharing, has gained increased us-
age (Unni & Weinstein, 2020) and has been identified 
as a space for LGBTQ+ individuals to feel connected 
with their community (Simpson & Semaan, 2020). 
LGBTQ+ youth note that during the COVID-19 
pandemic, TikTok was a powerful tool for manag-
ing family relations, facilitating LGBTQ+ identity 
development and community belongingness, and 
sharing resources (Hiebert & Kortes-Miller, 2023). 
Similar to other online gay and lesbian communities, 
TikTok appears to have the potential to be a space 
for activism, possibly through its LGBTQ+ orient-
ed content being an inspiration for users to consider 
a future where discrimination against the commu-
nity is eliminated (Duguay, 2023). Explorations on 
how lesbian and queer women use the platform are 
minimal; however, there is a small body of research 
suggesting that the platform can be used for identity 
expression and activism for this group, particularly 
through the presence of “sapphic pop” on the plat-
form (McEwan, 2023) and the community label of  
“Lesbian TikTok”. For the purposes of this study, 
"Lesbian TikTok" is operationally defined as content 
and interactions on TikTok that specifically focus on 
lesbian identities, experiences, and issues, including 
videos created by and for lesbian individuals that pro-
mote community engagement, support, and activism. 

Methods
Researcher Reflexivity Statement
 The research team was composed of several in-
dividuals with various backgrounds and experienc-
es with the study’s subject matter. The first author 
identifies as a white, pansexual demigirl who was a 
first-year Master’s student during the data collection 
process and served as a coder. The second author is 
a white, lesbian, cisgender woman who was an assis-
tant professor and provided consultation and sup-
port with the methods and writing process. The third 
author identifies as a lesbian autistic woman, was 
also a first-year Master’s student during the data col-
lection and served as the first auditor of the project. 
 The fourth author identifies as a queer Indige-
nous person, was also a first-year Master’s student, and 
served as a second coder. The final author is a white 
queer woman who was a social media consultant at the 
time of data collection. Our team consisted of members 
with varying degrees of involvement with social media, 
with some members being frequent users of LGBTQ+ 
TikTok in particular and others being more passive 
consumers of LGBTQ+ social media in general. These 
varying engagement levels allowed the team to consult 
and review the data from multiple vantage points. 
 We approached this study with a shared interest 
in the importance of a sense of community for lesbi-
ans, specifically exploring how social media can play 
a role in facilitating this sense of community. The 
research team extensively discussed how our experi-
ence with social media and the LGBTQ+ community 
would impact the study. Despite all researchers shar-
ing an LGBTQ+ identity, their experience with social 
media varied, specifically with TikTok. Due to their 
first-hand experience of being LGBTQ+ and engag-
ing in social media, as well as their previous work ex-
amining the LGBTQ+ community’s experience with 
social media, the first author approached the study 
with the belief that social media can function as a way 
for lesbians to obtain a sense of community. Howev-
er, they also acknowledged that social media can also 
be a space for LGBTQ+ content creators to experi-
ence discrimination from other users, which they re-
mained cognizant of throughout the coding process. 
Data Sources
 The research team collected the top 100 comments 
on two videos from 11 popular lesbian TikTok con-
tent creators. These accounts predominantly featured 



90

WHERE DID ALL THE LESBIANS GO?

individual creators; however, two accounts featured 
lesbian couples who shared ownership of the account. 
During data collection, these videos had a subscrib-
er range of 340 thousand to 9 million. There were 
no pre-established relationships between comment-
ers, content creators, or the research team. However, 
one member was familiar with the content creators 
through their usage of TikTok, which helped inform 
the coding team of current events on the platform 
and provided context to certain comment sections. 
Procedure
 Prior to any data collection, the team received 
an exemption from the Research Ethics Board for 
analyzing the comments due to all data being pub-
licly available. The team’s criteria for the video was 
that (1) the video was made within the last year prior 
to analysis (from February 2022 to February 2023), 
and (2) the video directly addressed lesbian/queer 
women's experiences. The third author (primary au-
ditor) then selected fifteen lesbian TikTok content 
creators by cross-referencing four online articles that 
listed popular lesbian influencers for review. Then, 
the auditor looked up the creators to determine if 
their content met the aforementioned criteria. Four 
creators from the original list were excluded from 
the analyses because their content did not meet the 
criteria or their account was removed from the plat-
form, resulting in a final list of eleven content creators 
who produced content that met the study’s criteria.
 Following this review, we identified a maximum 
of two videos from each content creator. In situations 
where more than two videos from the creator fit the 
criteria, the videos with the most comments were se-
lected, based on rationale that these videos had the 
most user engagement. This resulted in a final 22 vid-
eos being analyzed by the coding team. We then ex-
tracted the top 100 comments pre-sorted by TikTok 
with comments with the most likes or responses using 
Apify's TikTok Comments Scraper software program. 
The program scraped comments from TikTok videos, 
including comment text, user ID, timestamp, num-
ber of replies, replies content, and number of likes. 
In instances where videos had fewer than 100 com-
ments, all comments were extracted and analyzed on 
NVivo, a qualitative data analysis software. Neither 
the content creators nor commenters were engaged 
at any point in the selection and collection process.

Analysis
Guiding Theory
 The purpose of this study was to better under-
stand how a sense of community is demonstrated on 
Lesbian TikTok. While different theoretical mod-
els exist for conceptualizing community, we selected 
McMillan and Chavis’ (1986) sense of community 
framework due to its longstanding application in both 
offline and digital spaces. Their model, which identi-
fies four key components—membership, influence, 
integration and fulfillment of needs, and shared emo-
tional connection—provided a structured foundation 
for analyzing community building in an online con-
text. This framework has been widely applied to digital 
communities, including social media, online support 
groups, and virtual activism spaces, demonstrating its 
adaptability to non-traditional, technology-mediat-
ed interactions (Blanchard, 2008; Obst et al., 2002). 
 Prior research has shown that McMillan and 
Chavis’ model effectively captures how users express 
belonging and influence within online platforms, 
making it particularly relevant for examining Tik-
Tok’s role in fostering community among lesbian 
users (Chen et al., 2013). The model's emphasis on 
shared emotional connection is especially applicable 
in digital spaces, where community members rely 
on text, video content, and interactive comment sec-
tions to build social bonds and validate identities (Oh 
et al., 2014). Recognizing the unique affordances of 
TikTok, including its algorithm-driven engagement 
and participatory culture, we adapted McMillan and 
Chavis’ framework to analyze how community man-
ifests in this dynamic online space. The coding team 
conducted a close reading of McMillan and Chavis’ 
original article (1989), carefully aligning its four core 
components with observable user behaviours on Tik-
Tok. Through a series of three iterative discussions, 
the research team refined the codebook to ensure that 
the framework adequately captured the nuances of 
online interaction, identity expression, and commu-
nity-building behaviours specific to Lesbian TikTok.
Deductive Content Analysis 
 Deductive content analysis (Neuendorf, 2017) is a 
type of content analysis in which the coding framework 
originates from a theory, operationalizing the theory 
within the coding process (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). 
Deductive content analysis’ utility for the present 
study resides in its ability to analyze data on a previous-



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ly identified framework (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008).  Initial-
ly, the first auditor created a codebook of 22 potential 
subthemes based on McMillan and Chavis’ (1986) 
sense of community framework and a preliminary re-
view of the data. During the coding process, the first 
auditor and two coders engaged in discussions to re-
fine the definitions and applicability of the subthemes. 
 Through this iterative process, two addition-
al subthemes emerged that were not fully captured 
by the original 22 subthemes. Specifically, the team 
identified a need to differentiate between explicit ex-
pressions of identity affirmation and implicit forms 
of community validation, leading to the addition of 
the subthemes “Identity Affirmation” and “Com-
munity Rituals.” The final codebook consisted of 24 
subthemes, reflecting a more nuanced representation 
of how users engaged with the content. Additionally, 
comments where the intended meaning could not be 
determined—either due to language barriers or am-
biguity in context—were categorized under a 25th 
code titled “Unknown.” This ensured that un-codable 
data was systematically accounted for without forcing 
interpretations that could misrepresent user intent.
 After establishing the codebook and coding the 
videos, it was decided that comments could be cod-
ed two to five times to capture the nuances of the 
established subthemes. The two coders were then 
assigned different comment sections to code in-
dependently. In this process, the coders also used 
memoing to document and reflect on the process 
during each coding session, which helped inform 
several discussion points. Upon finishing the coding, 
the auditor and two coders met to discuss the find-
ings and the process, informing the initial results.
Methodological Integrity
 Perspective management in data collection was 
established through ongoing discussions between 
the coding team about how their own identities and 
perspectives may influence the analysis, maintaining 
awareness of these perspectives throughout the pro-
cess. As recommended by Levitt and colleagues (2018), 
we utilized memoing and engaged in extensive conver-
sations before and during the analysis process. These 
conversations included establishing agreement on the 
codebook between the two coders and the auditor be-
fore analysis and reviewing all coding by the first au-
ditor to ensure the codes aligned with the subthemes. 
 While a formal interrater reliability check (e.g., 

Cohen’s kappa) was not conducted, the research 
team took multiple steps to ensure coding consisten-
cy through these discussions and ongoing reflection. 
The second author, who served as a consultant, also 
suggested restructuring the findings. Given the con-
structivist paradigm of this study, which emphasiz-
es the co-construction of knowledge and subjective 
meaning-making, these changes significantly modified 
the results section to reduce the emphasis on the fre-
quency of each subtheme. Instead, they emphasized 
how the most common subthemes manifested in the 
comments. This restructuring was discussed exten-
sively by the research team and was agreed upon as 
being best aligned with the study’s goal of better un-
derstanding how a sense of community is presented in 
lesbian TikTok content creators’ comment sections.

Results 
 Through the results, we identified codes align-
ing with each of the original four tenets established 
by McMillan and Chavis’ (1986) theory of a sense 
of community: membership, shared emotional con-
nection, influence and integration, and fulfillment of 
needs. All subthemes in our codebook guided by this 
theory were identified in some capacity, with promi-
nence varying greatly between subthemes. A total of 
2,070 comments were coded. However, we elected to 
explain the most salient subthemes from each theme 
to illustrate better how commenters experienced 
more prominent subthemes of a sense of community.
Membership
 Membership was exhibited through commenters' 
sense of belonging within the lesbian TikTok commu-
nity and expressed feelings of belongingness. Specific 
methods that commenters expressed this theme in-
cluded users disclosing their own experiences, their in-
vestment in current events relevant to the lesbian com-
munity, and noting that they felt accepted by content 
creators and fellow commenters. To illustrate this, we 
selected three of the most salient subthemes that arose 
through our analysis: an investment of the self, shared 
importance of events and tasks, and emotional safety.
Investment 
 The subtheme of investment of the self was pre-
sented through users expressing personal sentiments 
regarding their lesbian identity and lived experiences. 
In comments with this subtheme, users often provid-
ed insight into their own experiences of being a lesbian 



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and mentioned their struggles with coming out. These 
conversations were often extensions of the video con-
tent itself, with users contributing their narratives and 
similarities to the lesbian experiences that the videos 
highlighted as well as their attraction to the content 
creators. For example, one user mentioned their pre-
vious same-sex attraction before coming out with the 
comment, “haha! my friend and I would play house 
at 10yrs & my mom caught us kissing like parents 
do. she freaked! I didn’t get to play with her anymore 
after.” (AveryCyrusV1, reference 16).  Overall, this 
sub-theme reflected the relationship between user and 
creator experiences and their vulnerability in express-
ing these experiences online. This subtheme occurred 
196 times and was found in 9.47% of all comments. 
Shared Importance of Events and Tasks 
 The subtheme of shared importance of events and 
tasks was demonstrated through users expressing their 
sentiments regarding current topics of interest regard-
ing popular topics amongst the lesbian community 
both on and off TikTok. Relationship speculation was 
highlighted as an important topic for users. In particu-
lar, one creator, speculated to be in a relationship with 
another popular creator in the videos extracted during 
the analysis, resulted in many users discussing this ru-
moured relationship in their comment sections. This 
discussion was also had on the other content creator’s 
videos, with one user stating “It’s my favourite drama 
show....Jojo, if u see this… we need u to stop for the 
sake of all lesbians...u know the lesbians are lesbianing 
too hard when king princess says so” (Kingprincessof-
ficial69V1) on a video that referenced this situation. 
This overlap of discussion across videos demonstrates 
how prevalent the shared importance of events and 
tasks relevant to the community is expressed through-
out multiple creators’ videos. In total, the shared im-
portance of events and tasks was mentioned in com-
ments 132 times, making up 6.38% of comments.
Emotional Safety 
 Emotional safety refers to the security that users 
felt and expressed within the comment sections explic-
itly. Emotional safety consisted of the overt disclosure 
of the users in the comment sections feeling secure and 
a space for inclusion, which helped facilitate moments 
of investment by disclosing their personal experiences. 
One user expressed their adoration for a creator being a 
safe space for them by saying, “You’re such a safe person 
I love this.” Another comment also addressed how they 

appreciated that a creator made a video about going no 
contact with family due to their lesbian identity as the 
content itself became a space to alleviate their isolation 
in the matter. They expressed this gratitude with the 
following comment: “i always have felt so uncomfort-
able about this topic and alone. this helps so much.” 
 This sub-theme described the level of security 
that users felt when engaging with creators and oth-
er users on the platform. This subtheme often over-
lapped with the previous two subthemes, yet was dis-
tinct in that it facilitated users expressing themselves. 
In particular, emotional safety was intertwined with 
the level of comfort and vulnerability users stated 
when expressing their connection with creators and 
their content on TikTok. This sub-theme occurred 
130 times, accounting for 6.28% of all comments.
Influence
 The key component of influence refers to the 
degree to which community members are able to im-
pact and shape the community's decisions, activities, 
and outcomes. It reflects the extent of individual and 
collective power and control within the communi-
ty. In the current dataset, influence was represented 
by members extrapolating their own lesbian/queer 
woman identity from the video content in the form of 
comments, expressing their own opinions and views 
within the context of the video, and meshing into 
the larger lesbian TikTok community by expressing 
the same sentiment as a larger theme of comments 
on the video. By doing this, users expressed personal 
sentiment and conformity to the video’s messages. 
The three most common themes identified included 
consensual validation, personal stake, and conformity. 
Consensual Validation 
 The subtheme of consensual validation was dis-
played through members expressing validation or 
approval of the creator, which was not predatory in 
nature. Some of these comments spoke to the phys-
ical appearance of the creator, such as “You look so 
cute, Avery! Hope you are doing well,” and “You are 
like a female young Ralph Macchio in the best way 
possible.” Additionally, consensual validation was 
illustrated by the praise of users for the content cre-
ators’ relationships, with some comments stating, 
“You are a stunning beautiful gorgeous couple and 
very jealous off you both ,” and “All 
my love to you, you’re a beautiful soul with a beau-
tiful partner. .” Consensual validation in this 



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context appeared to speak to approval of the “fit” 
of the couple, as well as their attractiveness to the 
commenters. Consensual validation was identified 
290 times, encompassing 14.01% of all comments.
Personal Stake 
 Users depicted the subtheme of personal stake 
by expressing personal opinions of their investment 
and attraction to creators. One user expressed their 
attraction on a video with a creator mentioning that 
they would “spoil” the viewer if they were in a ro-
mantic relationship with them by stating, “I’m not 
spoiled, but I’d definitely get spoiled by you.” Addi-
tionally, the deep commitment to the TikTok cre-
ators' lives was illustrated by the quote: “The cour-
age you have shown has been such an inspiration to 
so many of us! Life after no contact can be beautiful! 
Thank you for proving that.” Personal stake was also 
illustrated by creators expressing their own opinions 
regarding lesbian TikTok creator “drama.” One spe-
cific example of this iteration of personal stake was 
through the quote of one commenter who felt sympa-
thy for one of the creators amidst the drama, stating:

“it’s not funny she’s trying her best hopefully you 
don’t take this offensively but some things get 
hard so remember if you We’re in the situation 
and someone thought it was funny you wouldn’t 
be very thankful about that so just remember 
what you say can hurt someone but if they were 
to say to you you would really be hurt also don’t 
take this offensively I’m sorry just supporting” 

 Another user retorted to this comment with 
their personal opinion, stating, “No. You don’t get 
out of a two year relationship and go date someone 
else the week after….. I don’t care if you’re hurting, 
you don’t do that.” Overall, users felt that they were 
valid in expressing their personal stake in the con-
tent creators’ lives through the comment sections of 
their videos. This subtheme was enlightening, as it 
demonstrated the vulnerability the community held 
in expressing their opinions associated with content 
creators on a public platform. This subtheme was seen 
175 times, which reflected 8.45% of all comments.
Conformity 
 The subtheme of conformity was often coded with 
the phenomenon of “atting(@)” oneself by saying, 
“This is totally me,” or “Me.” These comments would 
include commenters announcing their conformity 
with the video’s content, suggesting that the video was 

a representation of themselves and their views. Other 
comments would feature their conformity to the opin-
ions within the comment section, with several members 
expressing similar sentiments. One example of this was 
a video containing a lesbian couple who falsely teased 
a pregnancy announcement to reaffirm their childfree 
status, with multiple commenters reaffirming the vid-
eo by stating “you tell em!! your entitled your privacy 
and your own life outside of social media!” and “I un-
derstand where you’re coming from in wanting to be 
apart of their journey and we’ve all come to enjoy that 
yes...but EVERYONE deserves privacy too.” Overall, 
conformity was illustrated through the consensus of 
opinion displayed in each comment section and oc-
curred 196 times, representing 9.47% of all comments. 
Integration and Fulfillment of Needs
 The key component of integration and fulfill-
ment of needs refers to the extent to which individ-
uals feel a sense of belonging and connection within 
a community and the degree to which their social 
and psychological needs are met within that com-
munity. Although the sub-themes of integration 
and fulfillment of needs were less prominent than 
the sub-themes exhibited throughout the other four 
themes, all sub-themes occurred at least once. This 
theme manifested through commenters expressing 
how the content has helped them become well-versed 
in topics relevant to the lesbian TikTok communi-
ty and users expressing willingness to provide and 
accept support from other users or the creators in 
the comment sections. The three sub-themes that 
will be explained further include group and individ-
ual competence, need fulfillment, and mutual aid. 
Group and Individual Competence 
 This sub-theme encompasses commenters know-
ing relevant community-specific information. In 
the comment sections, group and individual compe-
tence were shown through users responding to cur-
rent TikTok drama. For example, several users shared 
their knowledge and opinions associated with a rele-
vant TikTok lesbian influencer couple who was ex-
periencing controversy by saying “I mean the last 24 
hours alone is enough to fill the 2022 drama quota. 
Period.” and “i think they lesbian’d a little too close 
to the sun.” Additionally, commenters also expressed 
that the content they consumed helped them main-
tain their insight of relevant news for the community 
on TikTok, with another commenter saying, “This is 



94

WHERE DID ALL THE LESBIANS GO?

pretty accurate and needed because I am in my mid-
20s and so busy with work to get the TEA.” These 
comments highlight the inherent desire for users to 
stay connected to culturally relevant events, such as 
influencer drama, as well as express their opinions 
surrounding these recent events. This subtheme was 
identified 99 times, making up 4.78% of all comments.
Need Fulfillment
 The sub-theme of need fulfillment was exhib-
ited, with commenters expressing how the content 
consumed benefited them. Examples include ex-
pressions of what content engagement means to the 
commenter, such as “I’m following u because Im 
inspired and that’s it.. Idc about your marriage or 
relationship.” Users also expressed gratitude for the 
content, as one user said, “I always have felt so un-
comfortable about this topic and alone. this helps so 
much. thank you.” Lastly, some comments specifical-
ly mentioned how the creators’ video will benefit the 
user in real life, with one comment stating, “Coming 
out soon and needed this reminder that it will get 
better .” This sub-theme helped demonstrate the 
utility of creator videos in validating and fulfilling 
emotional needs. Needs Fulfillment was coded in 33 
comments, or 1.59% of the total comments analyzed.
Mutual Aid
 Lastly, the sub-theme of mutual aid featured com-
menters who were both willing to receive and provide 
help to other group members. Some of this aid mani-
fested in the form of emotional support offered by oth-
er members, with one commenter expressing, “I’m a 
40-year-old mother with three kids. I have a grandchild 
on the way. I am a part of the community. Please do 
not hesitate to message me about anything.” A note-
worthy interaction was when one creator voiced their 
desire to help a commenter when they requested a vid-
eo on tips to come out, saying, “I would love to talk 
about this more, I’ll pin your comment in a video soon 

.” Other commenters expressed their need for aid, 
“I need tips. My whole biological and foster family are 
toxic, but I always end up talking to them again. But 
I can’t keep doing this to myself.” These comments 
highlighted the community’s ability to provide and 
accept support, as well as their comfort of doing so 
in the comment sections. Mutual aid was seen in 14 
comments, equating to 0.68% of comments analyzed.
Shared Emotional Connection
 The key component of shared emotional con-

nection refers to the degree to which community 
members feel emotionally connected to one another. 
It reflects the extent to which community members 
experience a sense of empathy, caring, and support 
from others within the community. Commenters 
exhibited this theme through their investment in the 
lesbian TikTok community, connections with oth-
ers in the community through comment sections, 
and the positivity expressed in their comments. 
The three most salient sub-themes that were iden-
tified included personal investment in the shared 
lived experience, peer relations, and positive regard. 
Personal Investment in the Shared Lived Expe-
rience
 This sub-theme refers to the shared lived experi-
ence, referring to the commitment that the commu-
nity has (and will continue to share) a history, com-
mon places, shared events, time together, and similar 
experiences. Commenters expressed this sub-theme 
through their investment in both the content of the 
video and the creators' lesbian identity. On a video 
that spoke about familial rejection, users shared the 
commonalities in their experiences with the creator, 
saying “Yep felt this. Just hit my one year too. It gets 
better baby so proud of u,” and “You’re truly an inspi-
ration, having gone through this myself it’s amazing to 
see the confidence once you start doing what’s best for 
YOU!” Another creator made a video which discussed 
the stigma associated with expressing their sexuality as 
fluid, with commenters noting their shared experience 
by saying “Agreed! I’m tired of explaining my $exuality 
and I just don’t want to have to explain myself  if 
that makes sense ,” and “Thissss is why I’ve been us-
ing queer, bc bisexual doesn’t feel right and I think it’s 
fluid/a spectrum.” Overall, it appears that commenters 
used the universality of the lesbian/queer experience to 
connect themselves closer to the content and content 
creators. Seven percent of the comments analyzed in-
cluded this subtheme, with 145 occurrences in total.  
Positive Regard
 Positive regard refers to positive experiences among 
group members. Commenters expressed this positive 
regard through acceptance of creators and their appre-
ciation for them. For example, commenters expressed 
this appreciation for two creators who announced 
their wedding by stating, “No matter what my mood 
is any video that you post showing how happy the two 
of you are together being married and happy just puts 



95

SHINBINE ET AL.

a smile on my face!” and “WOW. you both look spec-
tacular in your wedding dresses! love your strength to 
live YOUR lives!” Other commenters expressed pos-
itive sentiment for the creators by posting comments 
supporting their life, saying, “I hope life just keeps 
getting better for you ,” and using heart emojis ( ) 
to express this positivity. Positive regard appeared to 
encapsulate feelings of approval and acceptance from 
commenters to creators. This sub-theme, occurring 
334 times, was coded in 16.14% of the total comments. 
Peer Relations
 This sub-theme encompasses the relationships 
and bonds between members of a group. This sub-
theme appeared to emerge with commenters engaging 
with one another instead of directly with the content 
creator. This was achieved through commenters “at-
ting” their friends or partners to share the content 
with them as a form of communication. Other times, 
commenters would have organic interactions with 
each other regarding the video topic. In particular, 
the aforementioned video with the fake pregnancy 
announcement included this interaction “damn not 
gonna lie they had me thinking they were gonna have 
a kid,” and “oh ya. lol totally thought they were an-
nouncing.” In general, peer relations were driven by us-
ers sharing the content to connect with others, as well 
as responding to already posted comments to form a 
connection. In total, 234 comments demonstrated 
peer relations, which was 11.30% of all comments.

Discussion 
 The objective of this study was to explore the 
sense of community experienced by lesbians within 
LGBTQ+ specific TikTok accounts. Results demon-
strated that the four foundational components out-
lined by McMillan and Chavis' sense of community 
theory (1986) were displayed through the various 
subthemes. These findings highlight TikTok's poten-
tial as a platform for nurturing this sense of commu-
nity, indicating that the "queer potential" suggested 
by Duguay (2023) regarding TikTok's role in social 
movements and the future of the LGBTQ+ commu-
nity extends to the lesbian demographic as well. How-
ever, this study also deepened our understanding of 
how a sense of community may vary in digital realms, 
suggesting that this piece of research is foundational 
in further expanding our understanding of this topic. 
 The manner in which a sense of community was 

exhibited demonstrates the unique ways that com-
menters on lesbian TikTok videos facilitate spaces of 
acceptance and belongingness, particularly with the 
platform and the content creators themselves being 
a conduit for certain subthemes to be expressed. For 
example, the subtheme of group and individual com-
petence was established by users discussing relevant 
topics associated with lesbian TikTok content cre-
ators. Similarly, a parasocial sort of connection with 
the content creators was found in the sub-themes 
of need fulfillment and a personal investment in the 
shared lived experience, as users would often praise cre-
ators in their comments and express how the content 
made them feel less alone regarding their lesbian iden-
tity. The relationship between isolation and parasocial 
relationships aligns with previous literature suggesting 
that parasocial relationships moderate loneliness and 
depressive symptoms (Woznicki et al., 2021). These 
findings demonstrate how TikTok, as a platform and 
its content creators themselves, appear to be a mecha-
nism to facilitate a sense of community for its user base. 
 In contrast, other sub-themes appeared to align 
more with traditional displays of a sense of communi-
ty. In particular, mutual aid was expressed through in-
dividuals offering assistance and support to other users 
through direct messaging, similar to what one may see 
in a physical space, which establishes a sense of com-
munity (Baiocco et al., 2012). Similarly, peer relations 
were sustained through users' conversations through 
the “reply comment” function on the app and by tag-
ging friends in the comments. It is important to note 
that although peer relations pertained to interactions 
between users, these conversations were related to the 
content creators and “atting” (the practice of tagging 
others to a piece of content for them to view) as a way 
to share these creators and their content with others. 
This newly identified space to facilitate a sense of com-
munity may benefit lesbians who do not have access to 
traditional physical spaces, such as individuals who live 
in rural areas or do not feel comfortable visiting these 
spaces. These findings highlight how the content of 
the videos created on Lesbian TikTok interplays with 
how a sense of community presents on the platform. 
 However, it is essential to recognize the role of Tik-
Tok’s algorithm in shaping how a sense of community 
manifests within this space. The platform’s recommen-
dation system curates content visibility based on en-
gagement metrics such as likes, shares, and comments, 



96

WHERE DID ALL THE LESBIANS GO?

which may amplify dominant voices while depriori-
tizing marginalized perspectives (Okoronkwo, 2024; 
Simpson & Semaan, 2021). This has implications for 
digital community-building, as highly engaged content 
may reinforce existing community norms while limit-
ing the visibility of dissenting or less mainstream voices. 
 Furthermore, TikTok’s algorithm is known to 
promote viral content over more niche or margin-
alized narratives, meaning that certain perspectives 
within the lesbian community may be systematically 
underrepresented. Previous research suggests that al-
gorithmic bias on social media platforms dispropor-
tionately affects LGBTQ+ users, particularly those 
at the intersections of race, gender identity, and so-
cioeconomic status (Simpson & Semaan, 2021). As a 
result, the representation of community interactions 
in this study may be influenced by the algorithm’s 
selection mechanisms rather than reflecting the full 
diversity of perspectives within Lesbian TikTok. Fu-
ture research should investigate how algorithmic visi-
bility structures shape online queer communities and 
whether alternative digital platforms offer different 
or more inclusive community-building experiences.
 In addition, users also expressed their gratitude 
and the positive impact of having these spaces on-
line to express their lesbian identity, suggesting that 
these videos and comment sections may serve a role 
in facilitating well-being for users. These bolstering 
effects align with previous research suggesting that 
digital spaces play a role in minimizing stressors as-
sociated with one’s LGBTQ+ identity and reaffirm-
ing social identities (Lopez-Leon & Casanova, 2023; 
Wagaman et al., 2020). They also reaffirm Burke’s 
(2000) findings that lesbians may use the internet 
to feel a higher sense of engagement with the com-
munity. This identification of TikTok as potentially 
bolstering for lesbian users’ well-being is promising, 
although future research is needed to examine the 
relationship between use and well-being outcomes. 
Limitations 
 Turning attention to the limitations of the pres-
ent study, they reside in the methodologies and con-
text of the selected videos. The content in the select-
ed videos varied between personal stories, humorous 
videos, and educational content, which impacted how 
a sense of community was expressed. Additionally, 
the significant variance in video views, ranging from 
37.8 thousand to 3.3 million across all videos, sug-

gests differing levels of video circulation and unequal 
exposure, which also may have limited certain com-
ment sections from exhibiting a sense of community 
due to a lack of user engagement with these videos. 
 Further, as we were unable to access demographic 
information on participants, findings may not reflect 
the diversity of community-related experiences for 
lesbians of different racial and socioeconomic back-
grounds. Moreover, the context of when the videos 
selected were posted may have impacted how themes 
were expressed. In particular, we noticed that the vid-
eos collected coincided with a period of TikTok "dra-
ma" concerning the breakup of Jojo Siwa and Avery 
Cyrus (i.e., celebrities in the lesbian/queer commu-
nity). As such, many comments were discussing this 
topic, and some of the examples in the results section 
referred to this specific event. This event was of im-
portance to the community, with multiple videos and 
comment sections referring to it. This significant oc-
currence in the lesbian TikTok community may have 
influenced the comment sections to express group 
and individual competence surrounding this matter.
 Another potential limitation of this study is the 
selection bias inherent in analyzing only the top 100 
comments for each video. TikTok’s algorithm pri-
oritizes comments with high engagement, such as 
those receiving the most likes or replies, potentially 
amplifying dominant voices while underrepresent-
ing the perspectives of less engaged users. This may 
result in an overrepresentation of more dominant 
viewpoints within the community while minimizing 
the voices of those with less visibility, such as mar-
ginalized users or those who engage with content in 
more passive ways (e.g., scrolling without comment-
ing). As a research team, we prioritized collecting 
data from a range of influencers; however, future 
research could incorporate a broader sample of com-
ments, including those with lower engagement or 
those posted across different timeframes, to capture 
a more diverse range of community interactions.
 Lastly, due to the study’s focus on publicly acces-
sible comments on TikTok videos, additional areas 
of investigation remained unanswered. For instance, 
the tone and intent of comments could not be accu-
rately inferred solely from their content, potentially 
leading to miscoding based on the comment's explicit 
content rather than the underlying intent of the cre-
ator. Additionally, TikTok's "direct message" feature 



97

SHINBINE ET AL.

allows users to privately communicate with creators, 
which might produce different components of a 
sense of community. This is of particular interest due 
to examples of the mutual aid sub-theme, suggest-
ing that users may privately message each other after 
an initial interaction on a public video. The lack of 
analysis of this feature on TikTok limits the study's 
capacity to comprehensively explore how a sense of 
community is nurtured for lesbians on the platform.
Future Directions
 Results from the current study help establish a 
promising avenue of future research exploring the 
Lesbian TikTok community. Our suggestions for fu-
ture research reflect the unexplored potential of this 
novel research topic. Firstly, future studies should 
aim to look at how a sense of community is longitu-
dinally created on TikTok for the Lesbian commu-
nity. This more widespread exploration may aid in 
the understanding of how a sense of community de-
velops over time. Similarly, the exploration of how 
certain types of videos influence how sub-themes 
are expressed would be a valuable endeavor, particu-
larly when comparing comedy versus more personal 
content. These future investigations would help bet-
ter understand how context and content influence 
how users express a sense of community on TikTok.
 Alternatively, research exploring the perspectives 
and experiences of Lesbian TikTok members may help 
deepen our understanding of a sense of community in 
this realm. Qualitative interviews may assist in under-
standing how consumers and creators of Lesbian Tik-
Tok content experience a sense of community online. 
The benefits of qualitative interviews are twofold, as 
they would both deepen the understanding of how 
Lesbian TikTok content creators and commenters 
conceptualize a sense of community, as well as explore 
potential strengths and weaknesses that TikTok pos-
sesses as a platform for this phenomenon. Such re-
search may also inform the policies and procedures that 
TikTok employs to improve the well-being of its users.  
 Due to the findings that, although a sense of com-
munity can be created online, the manner in which 
it presents is unique, research exploring how these 
spaces are created and maintained is important. Gain-
ing a more comprehensive understanding of Lesbi-
an TikTok and how a sense of community is forged 
in this space requires further investigation into how 
relationships between creators and community are 

formed. Specifically, delving into the psychological as-
pects of online engagement, including the formation 
of virtual identities and the dynamics of parasocial 
relationships, could provide a deeper comprehen-
sion of why specific elements of a sense of commu-
nity struggle to translate effectively within comment 
sections. Such explorations could be beneficial in 
establishing a newfound understanding of what a 
virtual sense of community looks like and the mech-
anisms behind forging and maintaining these spaces. 
 TikTok as a platform appeared to be a key piece 
of context in the expression of certain subthemes, 
and further research should encompass examining 
the experiences of lesbians on various social media 
platforms they currently engage with. This broader 
perspective could offer insights into how a sense of 
community is cultivated online within this commu-
nity. Similarly, investigating the feedback received by 
content creators across different social media plat-
forms could shed light on whether distinct platforms 
facilitate different facets of a sense of community. 
Lastly, conducting a comparative analysis between 
fostering a sense of community in public versus pri-
vate communication settings could contribute to a 
more comprehensive understanding of how this sense 
of community develops on the TikTok platform.
Conclusion 
 Studying online lesbian communities can inform 
our understanding of how LGBTQ+ individuals 
build a sense of community in a post-COVID soci-
ety. It provides insights into how online platforms 
connect, share information, and provide support 
within the lesbian/queer women community at large. 
Further, understanding online communities helps 
researchers comprehend the factors that shape these 
communities and the experiences of LGBTQ+ indi-
viduals within them. However, despite the decline of 
lesbian-centred spaces, there continues to be a need for 
safe and inclusive spaces for lesbian-identifying people 
to gather, connect, and develop a sense of community.
 The current study found that social media plat-
forms, such as TikTok, can foster a sense of commu-
nity. To our knowledge, this is the first endeavour 
looking at a sense of community for lesbians on Tik-
Tok. The understanding of the lesbian community 
on TikTok needs to be further explored to gain fur-
ther insight regarding how the type of content dis-
seminated and the timeliness of relevant issues for 



98

WHERE DID ALL THE LESBIANS GO?

the community further impact how it is established.  

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