From Caterpillar to Butterfly: Social Media Engagement of the Socially Excluded Third-Gender People in Bangladesh

Information Systems Frontiers https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-023-10422-5 From Caterpillar to Butterfly: Social Media Engagement of the Socially Excluded Third‑Gender People in Bangladesh Mohammad Alamgir Hossain1 · Shahriar Akter2 · Md. Fosiul Ahsan3 · Jashim Uddin Ahmed4 · Shahadat Khan5 Accepted: 24 June 2023 © The Author(s) 2023 Abstract This paper focuses on the effects of gender diversity – in terms of binary- and third-gender – on social media engagement (SMEn). Specifically, we examine the extent to which SMEn's antecedents and outcomes vary between binary- and third-gender people. Based on the uses and gratification theory (UGT), we develop and validate a model using two crosssectional studies. Data have been collected from heterosexual and third-gender people (TGP) separately, and analysed with the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. Our results show that the incentives and outcomes of SMEn are not identical across different gender groups; rather, socially excluded TGP take advantage of social media differently than their heterosexual counterpart. More specifically, habit is the strongest predictor of SMEn for the heterosexual group, which is emotional reassurance for the TGP. Interestingly, identity management is an important determinant of SMEn only for TGP, while social interaction is important for both groups. We further find that SMEn enhances both groups' quality of life and social self-esteem but more for TGP. This study advances knowledge by applying UGT in a new research setting within information systems. The findings provide guidelines to social media architects and policymakers on engaging socially disadvantaged people with social media and enhancing their social wellbeing. Keywords Social media · Social exclusion · Third gender · Uses and gratification 1 Introduction * Mohammad Alamgir Hossain Shahriar Akter Md. Fosiul Ahsan Jashim Uddin Ahmed Shahadat Khan 1 Business and Human Rights (BHRIGHT) Centre, and School of Accounting, Information Systems, and Supply Chain, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia 2 School of Management & Marketing, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia 3 Women Possibilities, Dhaka, Bangladesh 4 Department of Management, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh 5 School of Accounting, Information Systems, and Supply Chain, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia Most cultures understand gender as a binary term; however, some people do not belong to the archetypal male–female gender options. Their sexual orientation differs from their heterosexual counterpart (Escobar-Viera et al., 2018), and thus are categorised, either by themselves or by society, as the ‘third gender’. The term third refers to "other" that includes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and gender-diverse communities.1 The third-gender (TG2) communities are highly excluded from society, specifically in Asian countries (Badgett, 2014; Han et al., 2019), and do not have access to human and citizen rights, e.g., health, shelter, and education. They are practically not allowed to live 1 In some countries e.g., Bangladesh and Pakistan, the term ‘thirdgender’ refers only to the ‘effeminate male’ (i.e., Hijra) who are born as male but later emasculate/castrate themselves, or undergo hormonal treatment to become ‘transgender or trans-women’. However, other countries e.g., India use ‘third-gender’ category to recognise transgender people including Hijras (an umbrella term to capture any gender other than male or female) (Kumar, 2019); and our study adopts the latter approach. 2 Not to confuse TG with ‘Transgender’ and ‘Gay’. 13 Vol.:(0123456789) Information Systems Frontiers their everyday lives and are deprived of their socio-politicalcultural- and religious rights (Mushtaq, 2018). Subsequently, they become vulnerable and exposed to high risk for depression, bullying, and suicidality (Baams et al., 2015; Lester, 2006; National LGBTI Health Alliance, 2016). With the proliferation of inexpensive smartphones and mobile telecommunication-based Internet services, the use of social media has been spurred in the last few years (Chaffey, 2019). On social media platforms, recently, an exponentially profound gender revolution has been evident (Kapoor et al., 2018) that recognises disparities among people based on gender (Adkins et al., 2018). These platforms accommodate both conventional heterosexual binary-gender (BG) and TG user groups. In particular, the third-gender communities (TGC) find it as a novel mechanism for social, emotional, and informational support that they do not encounter offline (Brammer, 2017). Consequently, social media is extremely popular among TGC (Han et al., 2019). Recently, Lupton and Southerton (2021) discussed the importance of understanding social media within the broader context of people's everyday lives. They suggest that the use of social media is not 'monolithic' but rather, "we have sought to demonstrate that Facebook is many things, generating diverse forms of thing-power. It is a different phenomenon for each user, as they intra-act with the platform's affordances in diverse ways. The always-emergent Facebook assemblage incorporates people's feelings, bodies, histories, sedimented habits and inclinations, and the material conditions in which these encounters take place" (p. 982). In light of this, there is a need to understand better if the antecedent drivers (i.e., determinants) of social media engagement (SMEn) differ between BG and TG user groups in the context of social exclusion. The context of social exclusion (the 'material conditions' that Lupton and Southerton refer to) allows us to understand social media use better. However, "Fewer studies have focused on social media use among non-traditional" users (Blackwell et al., 2016, p. 612); thus, research gaps remain to be fulfilled. The extant literature has identified different TG user groups on social media other than the conventional heterosexual BG. Studies also argue that the use motivations (e.g., Adkins et al., 2018) and use (e.g., Escobar-Viera et al., 2018) of social media of these groups may vary. Yet, we have little empirical evidence on how the motivations differ between these two distinct user groups (Escobar-Viera et al., 2020). Precisely, Craig et al. (2021) point out that research comparing third-gender people (TGP)’s use of social media to their BG peers is “limited”. Nonetheless, the recent work of Kaiser et al. (2021) claim that there are ‘many difference’ in social media behaviour between heterosexual and sexual minority users. Such research can provide us with more closely scrutinised theoretical and practical meanings and help us better understand the nobility of social media. 13 In addition, while many TGCs have used social media for more than a decade and spend much time daily, research on the outcomes of their SMEn is anecdotal and sporadic (Craig et al., 2021). With the increasing popularity of (...truncated)