Nutrition-Related Messages Shared Among the Online Transgender Community: A Netnography of YouTube Vloggers

Purpose: Nutrition care guidelines for the transgender population do not exist, despite significant nutrition-related clinical and psychosocial considerations. Social networking sites (SNSs) provide multidirectional communication and have expanded in popularity among transgender users as a resource for health information and support. The nature of the content shared among the online transgender community is unknown, but may suggest the nutrition-related areas that are of most importance to the transgender population. The objective of this qualitative netnography was to describe the food and nutrition messages shared among the transgender community using video blogs (vlogs) on the SNS, YouTube. Methods: Public vlogs were assessed using the constant comparative method. Pseudoquantitative methods were used to capture the prevalence of each subtheme; quotes were documented verbatim. Data were collected from transgender users' public vlogs (n=30) self-published on YouTube from 2013 to 2018. Results: Six major themes were generated from the data analysis. These included the following: functions of diet and exercise; diet and exercise philosophies; “how to” vlogs; advice for success; using dietary supplements; and effects of hormone therapy. Conclusions: Nutrition-related messages are widely shared among the online transgender community through YouTube. The identified themes reflect topics of interest and expressed needs of transgender individuals. SNSs provide health care providers with a platform to improve patient education and health literacy. Health care providers may actively engage in online discussions to build trust, answer questions, and provide a source of accurate and evidence-based information.