Disclosure, or "coming out," videos on YouTube are a popular part of YouTube's global online video sharing culture. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) coming out videos are among the most popular, as they allow for LGBTQ+ persons to share their stories with others. This study examines LGBTQ+ coming out videos and their potential to reduce prejudice through the parasocial contact hypothesis, particularly for non-LGBTQ+ persons who view these videos. Through a 2 × 2 experimental design, this study proposed a path model that explores how coming out YouTube videos and self-understanding imagined interactions helps to reduce homophobia, especially as they relate to emotional responses to the videos and stories. Results found strong effects for video admiration reducing homophobia and hatred increasing homophobia. Further, self-understanding imagined interactions reduced homophobia through admiration. Results and implications for these findings are discussed.
Keywords: Homophobia; LGBTQ+; YouTube; coming out videos; disclosure; emotion; imagined interactions.