Technical Communication Quarterly Oct 2021

Resistance as Participation: Queer Theory’s Applications for HIV Health Technology Design

McKinley Green University of Minnesota System

Abstract

This article proposes resistance as a form of participation in user experience settings. It details a study to include people living with HIV in codesigning a health education technology, and it found that participants resisted online education initiatives, citing HIV stigma on social media and privacy concerns. Taken with queer theory, these findings underscore the offline inequities mediating interaction on social media for those living with HIV and open alternative design arrangements reflecting participants’ embodied experiences.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2021-10-02
DOI
10.1080/10572252.2020.1831615
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
social media body and rhetoric
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (10)

  1. Green (2026)
    Trans and Queer Visibility in an Era of Hyper Surveillance: A User Experience S…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Shivers-McNair (2025)
    Toward Justice-focused Participatory Research Repositories: Connecting Technica…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Rose et al. (2025)
    Trust the Process: A Scalable Model for UX Pedagogy
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Swartz (2024)
    Biodigital Literacy through Intimate Data: User Perceptions of FemTech and Pelv…
    Communication Design Quarterly
  5. Hunter (2024)
    Toward TPC-UX: UX Topics in TPC Journals 2013–2022
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Show all 10 →
  1. Swartz (2024)
    Biodigital Literacy through Intimate Data: User Perceptions of FemTech and Pelv…
    Communication Design Quarterly
  2. Lee et al. (2023)
    Community-Engaged User Experience Pedagogy: Stories, Emergent Strategy, and Pos…
    Communication Design Quarterly
  3. Green (2023)
    On (the Limits of) Reciprocity: Navigating Shared Identity and Difference in Co…
    Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
  4. Rose et al. (2021)
    User Experience and Technical Communication: Beyond Intertwining
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Green (2021)
    Risking Disclosure: Unruly Rhetorics and Queer(ing) HIV Risk Communication on Grindr
    Technical Communication Quarterly

References (52) · 17 in this index

  1. Agboka (2013)
    Participatory Localization: A Social Justice Approach to Navigating Unenfranchi…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. 10.1215/9780822373711-013
     ↗
  3. 10.1145/2470654.2466446
     ↗
  4. Beuscart-Zéphir M.-C. (2013)
    Context sensitive health informatics: Human and sociotechnical approaches
  5. Bivens (2019)
    Reducing harm by designing discourse and digital tools for opioid users' contex…
    Communication Design Quarterly
Show all 52 →
  1. 10.1353/hpu.2005.0077
     ↗
  2. Blythe et al. (2008)
    Action Research and Wicked Environmental Problems: Exploring Appropriate Roles …
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. 10.1177/0963662509347814
     ↗
  4. 10.1037/13620-004
     ↗
  5. 10.1177/1461444814542311
     ↗
  6. 10.1162/074793601750357178
     ↗
  7. 10.18061/dsq.v36i4.5325
     ↗
  8. 10.1177/1461444817744784
     ↗
  9. 10.1017/S1742058X04040044
     ↗
  10. Cox (2019)
    Working Closets: Mapping Queer Professional Discourses and Why Professional Com…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  11. 10.1136/medethics-2015-102781
     ↗
  12. 10.1145/3121283.3121301
     ↗
  13. Edenfield et al. (2019)
    Queering Tactical Technical Communication: DIY HRT
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  14. Fullilove, R. E. (2006). African Americans, health disparities, and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for confronting…
  15. Gonzales L. (2018)
    Communication Design Quarterly
  16. Haas (2012)
    Race, Rhetoric, and Technology: A Case Study of Decolonial Technical Communicat…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  17. 10.7330/9781607327585.c000
     ↗
  18. 10.1007/s11904-015-0280-x
     ↗
  19. Jones (2016)
    Narrative Inquiry in Human-Centered Design: Examining Silence and Voice to Prom…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  20. Jones (2016)
    The Technical Communicator as Advocate: Integrating a Social Justice Approach i…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  21. Jones et al. (2016)
    Disrupting the Past to Disrupt the Future: An Antenarrative of Technical Commun…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  22. Kafer A. (2013)
    Feminist, queer, crip
  23. 10.1007/s10912-014-9275-7
     ↗
  24. 10.1016/j.drugpo.2016.07.007
     ↗
  25. 10.2196/jmir.3311
     ↗
  26. 10.1023/A:1016846402426
     ↗
  27. 10.1215/10642684-9-1-2-79
     ↗
  28. Meloncon (2017)
    Patient experience design: expanding usability methodologies for healthcare
    Communication Design Quarterly
  29. Moore et al. (2016)
    From Participatory Design to a Listening Infrastructure: A Case of Urban Planni…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  30. 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.04.026
     ↗
  31. 10.2307/j.ctt1pwt9w5
     ↗
  32. Opel et al. (2018)
    Beyond Student as User: Rhetoric, Multimodality, and User-Centered Design
    Computers and Composition
  33. Pernice, K. (2018). User interviews: How, when, and why to conduct them. Nielsen Norman Group. Retrieved from…
  34. Rose (2016)
    Design as Advocacy: Using a Human-Centered Approach to Investigate the Needs of…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  35. 10.1145/3233756.3233931
     ↗
  36. Rose et al. (2017)
    Community-Based User Experience: Evaluating the Usability of Health Insurance I…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  37. Sackey D. J. (2020)
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  38. 10.1145/1738826.1738829
     ↗
  39. Scott J. B. (2007)
    Critical power tools: Technical communication and cultural studies
  40. Shivers-McNair et al. (2019)
    An Intersectional Technofeminist Framework for Community-Driven Technology Innovation
    Computers and Composition
  41. Simmons W. M. (2008)
    Participation and power: Civic discourse in environmental policy decisions
  42. Spinuzzi C. (2005)
    Technical Communication
  43. 10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.019
     ↗
  44. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199970773.001.0001
     ↗
  45. 10.21310/cnx.4.1.16wal
     ↗
  46. Walton (2016)
    Supporting Human Dignity and Human Rights: A Call to Adopt the First Principle …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  47. Walton et al. (2013)
    Navigating increasingly cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary, and cross-organizat…
    Communication Design Quarterly
CrossRef global citation count: 19 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Communication Design Quarterly Sep 2025
    Using Social Media as a User-Centered Design Tool: Types of User Feedback Useful for Iterative Design ↗
    Dorcas A. Anabire
    qualitative research social media body and rhetoric
  2. Philosophy & Rhetoric Sep 2024
    Where’s the Rhetoric? Imagining a Unified Field ↗
    Joshua Hanan
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism composition theory genre theory discourse analysis cultural rhetorics argument qualitative research quantitative research digital rhetoric social media grammar and mechanics gender and writing disability studies public rhetoric affect and writing body and rhetoric editorial matter
  3. The Peer Review Sep 2021
    Sheltering in Place, Working in Space: Reflections on an Online Writing Center at Home ↗
    Alex Claman; Alex Claman; Claire Seekins; Seanie Mardell
    rhetorical criticism graduate education teacher development argument assessment writing centers peer tutoring technical communication labor and working conditions digital rhetoric social media online writing instruction affect and writing body and rhetoric place and space
  4. Technical Communication Quarterly Jul 2021
    Chinese Women’s Reproductive Justice and Social Media ↗
    Hua Wang
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism feminist rhetorics labor and working conditions social media gender and writing body and rhetoric
  5. Rhetoric Review Jan 2019
    White Squares to Black Boxes: Grindr, Queerness, Rhetorical Silence ↗
    J. Logan Smilges
    rhetorical criticism social media gender and writing body and rhetoric