SPECIMEN #2025-H: #MyVoiceOnT: Transgender Voice Documentation on TikTok

• In Event: Digital Ecologies of Hope: A Natural History of Emerging Media Futures

Abstract

This study examines how transgender youth use TikTok's #myvoiceont hashtag to document voice changes during hormone therapy as community care practice. Through analysis of voice progression videos, this research reveals digital self-archiving as both personal documentation and collective resource creation. Each video functions as temporal marker in creators' transitions while serving as guidance for others beginning similar journeys. The practice creates public archives understanding individual transformation as connected to broader community becoming. Comments reveal diverse participants—silent observers, shy creators, curious viewers, protective community members—all engaging in collective witnessing. Videos provide representation and practical information often absent from medical or educational contexts. Despite threats from restrictive legislation and platform policies, these archives continue evolving through community commitment to mutual care. This research contributes to understanding how marginalized communities use platforms to create supportive networks and preserve knowledge mainstream institutions fail to provide.

Author

• Sara Meier Clark, Teachers College, Columbia University