‘It’s social interaction. . . but it’s not’ : A qualitative study investigating the psycho-social experience of social media by individuals with a visual impairment
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online April, 2022
‘It’s social interaction. . . but it’s not’ : A qualitative study investigating the psycho-social experience of social media by individuals with a visual impairment
People with visual impairment (VI) may encounter psychosocial challenges including difficulties with socialisation/interpreting visual social cues. Social media (SM) may provide alternative means of socialisation but little is known about the experience of SM from their perspective. Semi-structured interviews with 10 individuals with VI who regularly use SM were analysed according to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Analysis yielded two overarching themes: social media and identity, and social connectedness. Participants described benefits of shared experience, feelings of enhanced control and challenges of SM which emphasise exclusion/inequality. Findings highlight a need for further research to understand/improve the online experience for people with VI.
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