In this paper, we critically examine the design of mainstream social media platforms from the point of view of autistic experiences and perspectives, drawing inspiration from the neurodiversity movement, the notion of autism as neurodivergence, and the concept of autistic sociality. We conducted 12 participatory design sessions with 20 autistic adult collaborators. Through thematic analysis of qualitative data, we identify seven challenges our participants experienced when using social media, and a set of imagined features that represent their vision of how design could better support their social media use. We discuss how mainstream social media platforms are primarily designed to address neurotypical sensitivities, and fail autistic adults through lack of user control, inadequate mechanisms for expressing tone and intention, and an orientation towards phatic interactions. To close, we outline how autistic sociality can inspire the design of kinder and more considerate social media platforms.CCS Concepts: • Human-centered computing → Collaborative and social computing; Empirical studies in collaborative and social computing.

While there is an increasing focus on the use of online networks among autistic users, how autistic adults communicate in social networking sites remains underexplored. The article puts forward an argument for combining systematic observation of digital practices with analysis of evaluative language in order to provide a situated account of ‘autistic sociality’ in social media. Drawing on practice-based theories of social media affordances and discourse analysis research on online self-presentation and affiliation we show how autistic Twitter users rely on association, content persistence and editability in order to signal social engagement through different forms of interaction and alignment. We discuss how the proposed framework can provide a new perspective on communicative practices of autistic social media users and advance development of inclusive digital networking platforms.

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The coronavirus pandemic has changed some of the ways we communicate, with virtual interactions replacing many of our face-to-face conversations. While online communication has been a challenge for many, autistic people encountered barriers in communication before the pandemic.How does their choice of punctuation change how you feel about their message? Perhaps message 1 with no punctuation is just a statement, simply letting you know that they have arrived at your meeting point. An exclamation mark generally indicates excitement, so the sender of message 2 is probably excited to see you when you arrive. But adding a full-stop to the end of a short online message? This is often considered passive aggressive or angry. If you receive message 3, take the hint that your friend is fed up with your lateness! AND WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH LINGUISTICS? Linguistics is not about speaking lots of different languages. It is about the structures GLOSSARY AUTISM -a developmental difference which affects how people communicate and interact with the world GIF (GRAPHICS INTERCHANGE FORMAT) -a short, animated image commonly used online LINGUISTIC ETHNOGRAPHY -the interpretation of human interactions within the specific social contexts and structures in which they occur SOCIAL MEDIA/SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES -online platforms where people can connect, communicate and share information