**4.2 Participants**

Participants for this study (n = 12) were between 17 and 24 years old (M = 20.42, SD = 2.47). They identified with diverse gender and sexual identities, which are described further in **Table 1**. The extent to which the participants had come out to people in their offline environment ranged from one person close to them, to several friends, classmates, family members, and everyone. Educational level ranged from pre-university education (n = 2), to post-secondary vocational education (n = 1), university of applied sciences (n = 4), and university (n = 5). Ethnic background was


*Developing a Resilient Sexual and Gender Minority Identity Online: The Importance of Social… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108208*

*Note. There is no participant number '4' and '11' because these participants withdrew their application after the participant numbers were established.*

#### **Table 1.**

*Demographic information of participants.*

not taken into account. Participants used several social media platforms, and used social media in different ways. An overview of this can be found in **Table 2**.

The participants were selected on the following criteria: (1) they identify as SGMY, or are in the process of doing so, (2) they have not yet come out to people in their offline environment, or have done this within a maximum of 2 years ago, (3) they regularly use social media, and (4) they are between 16 and 24 years old. The criteria for regular use of social media were met when participants use social media a few times a week, or more. The decision for this age range was based on what is known about the ages of coming out and identity development. Additionally, 16 was chosen as the minimum age because parental consent for participation is not needed after this age, which is crucial considering the participants may not have come out to them yet. Furthermore, to anticipate difficulties in reaching a sufficient number of participants for the study, it was decided to include SGMY who have already come out, but within the last 2 years, to increase the range of the sample. These participants were asked in retrospect about their social media usage during their period of identity concealment.


#### **Table 2.**

*Overview of social media usage.*
