In search of lesbian community in an electronic world

Studies have shown that friendship groups and a sense of community are impo rtant in the creation of positive lesbian identities. Sometimes it is diffi cult, however, for lesbians to meet other lesbians. The Internet has become an important source for many lesbians to connect with each other to find p otential partners and create community ties. Giddens' idea of the creation of self-identity through continually revised self-narratives and choices am ong lifestyle options are used to suggest that lesbian personals ads are no t just inventories of personal attributes for sale or exchange, but deliber ate creations of self-definitions. As such, writing personals ads illustrat es "reflexively organized life-planning." In this study of lesbian Internet personals ads, both qualitative and quantitative analyses were done. Quali tatively, the ads were placed in a conceptual hierarchy of types of interac tions sought by the advertisers. The analyses reveal that two-thirds of adv ertisers were looking for types of meaningful relationships ranging from fr iendships to life-partnerships. The remainder of the advertisers were seeki ng non-meaningful interactions, from information to tour guides to casual s exual encounters. Many advertisers wanted to connect with lesbian communiti es in their own geographic regions or in places where they were planning to relocate or visit. Quantitative analysis was then done to compare contents of online ads to previously studied print ads. Results suggest that online ads are generally longer and more narrative than print ads as a result of fewer space restrictions and other factors.