Embedded Files
#LoveWins was made to celebrate a legal victory for a community that was marginalized both legally and socially. The sad fact was that changing the law did nothing to stop the violence and hate that LGBTQ+ people encounter daily. Society is not always a safe space for members of the gay community. Only a year later a tragedy occurred when an Orlando gay nightclub was attacked with gunfire and 49 people were killed (Campbell et al. 2016). Today, Transgender youth are in danger and schools are beginning to ban discussion of the gay community. There is very little space in real life for the community to live without some sort of fear. The hashtag “LoveWins” creates a sort of LGBTQ+ content “bubble” and allows the community to exist online without this fear.
Since the hashtag was created in support of LGBTQ+ people, it has remained a safe space for members of the community to share posts and be themselves. Though this is not ideal in the slightest, it is a positive side to the hashtag. The sheer number of posts supporting the community under this hashtag makes it easier to control the online space. Today, there are 9.4 million posts shared on Instagram under this hashtag. This also limits the number of trolls and hate comments that are often found in the comments of LGBTQ+ posts not marked with #LoveWins. The comment sections are usually overrun with comments about love or congratulations because algorithms ensure that other members of the community will easily find these posts. You often see posts that are similar to your content, or content with which you have interacted. This is why hashtags are so successful in grouping people together and creating (or in this case strengthening) a community.
LGBTQ+ conquers social media
LGBTQ+ conquers social media
This graph shows the number of posts on Twitter using #LoveWins just one day after the hashtag became popular in 2015! Today, the hashtag has 9.4 million posts on Instagram.
Page updated
Report abuse