Understanding Autistic Adults' Use of Social Media

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Van Driel, M., Vines, J., Barros Pena, B., & Koteyko, N. (2023). Understanding Autistic Adults' Use of Social Media. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 7(CSCW2), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1145/3610048

Journal or book title
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Volume
7
Issue
CSCW2
Pages
1-23
Publication date: 28 Sep 2023 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)
  1. Martine Van Driel *
  2. John Vines
  3. Belén Barros Pena
  4. Nelya Koteyko

Abstract

Autism is a developmental condition that impacts 1 in 100 people \citeNationalAutisticSociety2021. It affects autistic people's interactional and sensory preferences and behaviours. Autistic people can find interactions difficult in part due to sensory overwhelm. Interacting online can provide a positive alternative that allows for interactions on their own terms. However, most social media platforms are designed by neurotypical standards and can therefore inhibit full participation by autistic users. We demonstrate through the analysis of 34 semi-structured interviews with autistic adults that current social media design is not sufficient for creating an inclusive environment and enabling participation from autistic adults. We identified six themes across the interviews: (1) 'Social Media compared to In-Person Interactions', (2) 'Social Media as Enabling/Overwhelming', (3) 'Perceived Social Norms', (4) 'Keeping Connected and Finding New Communities', (5) 'Keeping Control through Systematic Practices', and (6) 'Being Authentic'. The themes demonstrate the attention that autistic adults give to online interaction, suggesting that online interactions may be just as fraught as in-person interactions have been shown to be. In order to become more inclusive of autistic adults, we recommend that social media platforms expand low-effort participation features, provide increased control over algorithmic content, support expression of intent and tone, aid discovery of interactional norms, and reinforce interest-based sociality.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 3 Oct 2026 01:00.

Cited references
58
With a DOI
48
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
9
11 / 58 (19.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
7 / 58 (12.1%)
References with detected author names
52 / 58 (89.7%)
Without detected author names
6
Without a structured title
7
Without a stable identifier
8
References with raw author names still to review
1
References with external metadata lookup issues
6
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
166
From DOI or external metadata
166
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
58 / 166 (34.9%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 108 / 166 (65.1%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
14 / 166 (8.4%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 14 / 58 (24.1%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 11 / 148 (7.4%).
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