EXPLORING DIGITAL SENSE OF COMMUNITY AMONG PLUS-SIZE SOLO WOMEN TRAVELERS: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF @CURVY

Abstract

The age of the internet has allowed human culture to take a digital form. The subsequent impact of the internet undoubtably created different avenues of interest for scholars. This research is situated within the interest of online safe spaces for marginalized travelers. As a feminist geographer, I am interested in understanding how gender and body size impact the lived experiences of solo female travelers. I believe it is possible to study this marginalized group of travelers by accessing one of their online spaces. To investigate my interest, I select a Facebook group for plus-size women travelers, @Curvy, to serve as a case study. Within @Curvy, global members post and interact with one another through sharing personal stories, tips and other content related to travel and body size. After narrowing down a timeframe, I gathered relevant posts using purposive sampling to perform a qualitative content analysis. From this, I discovered evidence of McMillan and Chavis' sense of community theory. Therefore, my study utilizes this theory to discuss how similar lived experiences can now result in a sense of community taking shape online.