Offering a wealth of examples of LGBT life online, this collection of 21 essays provides an overview of new communities, relationships, and means of asserting or forming identity among LGBT worldwide using social media. The first four essays discuss coming out on YouTube and other media, mainly among youth, and the online outcry following the murder of 15-year-old Lawrence King. Other segments focus on commoditization, discourse of the body, fan networks, and community spaces, with topics that include LGBT identities in mainstream advertising, fat-affirming groups online, Yaoi anime in the West, and how gay bar culture is being replaced by online media. The contributors are academics, PhD candidates, and independent scholars in the U.S. and the U.K. in the fields of English, film, media studies, and sociology. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
