Exploring the Impact of Social Media Usage Patterns on General Engagement: A Behavioural Analysis of Transgender Persons Residing in Selected Districts of Bihar, India

Abstract

Social media is one of the main networks for transgender people to find spaces for expression, activism, and community. The platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, amplify transgender voices, raising awareness and advocacy. Social media is also a minefield of cyberbullies, misinformation, and discrimination. Even with its shortcomings, when deployed responsibly, it can do much to empower transgender individuals by encouraging visibility, acceptance, and chances to interact socially and professionally. In this study, an attempt has been made to understand the behavioural pattern of social media usage by transgender persons residing in selected districts of Bihar, namely Patna, Ara, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur, and Purnea. To execute this study, a questionnaire, namely ‘The Social Media Use Scale: Development and Validation,’ has been used, under which there are four different scales, namely Image-Based Social Media Use, Comparison-Based Social Media Use, Belief-Based Social Media Use, and Consumption-Based Social Media Use. 330 responses have been taken into consideration. For analysis of the data, firstly, exploratory factor analysis has been done, followed by multiple linear regression analysis. The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of different scales on the general social media usage by transgender persons. The results clarify that all the scales positively impact the general social media usage pattern of transgender people, with Consumption-Based Social Media Use having the greatest effect, followed by Comparison-Based Social Media Use. Belief-Based Social Media Use and Image-Based Social Media Use have smaller yet significant roles.