‘It’s social interaction. . . but it’s not’: A qualitative study investigating the psycho-social experience of social media by individuals with a visual impairment

Hill, Kirsty, Bennett, Paul and Hunter, Rachael ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1451-469X 2021. ‘It’s social interaction. . . but it’s not’: A qualitative study investigating the psycho-social experience of social media by individuals with a visual impairment. Journal of Health Psychology 27 (5) , 1070. 10.1177/1359105321995949

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Abstract

People with visual impairment (VI) may encounter psychosocial challenges including difficulties with socialisation/interpreting visual social cues. Social media (SM) may provide alternative means of socialisation but little is known about the experience of SM from their perspective. Semi-structured interviews with 10 individuals with VI who regularly use SM were analysed according to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Analysis yielded two overarching themes: social media and identity, and social connectedness. Participants described benefits of shared experience, feelings of enhanced control and challenges of SM which emphasise exclusion/inequality. Findings highlight a need for further research to understand/improve the online experience for people with VI.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Psychology
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	1359-1053
Last Modified:	15 Apr 2026 13:09
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/186412

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