Social Media Conversations About Race: How social media users see, share, discuss race and the rise of hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter

Title

Social Media Conversations About Race: How social media users see, share, discuss race and the rise of hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter

Description

The 35 page report discusses the results of a new Pew Research Center survey and three content analysis case studies of publicly available tweets. The survey found that there are significant differences in the way black and white adults use social media to share and interact with race-related content. Black social media users (68%) are roughly twice as likely as whites (35%) to say that at least some of the posts they see on social networking sites are about race or race relations. When it comes to their own postings, a similar racial gap exists. Among black social media users, 28% say most or some of what they post is about race or race relations; 8% of whites say the same. On the other hand, roughly two-thirds (67%) of whites who use social media say that none of things they post or share pertain to race. Pew Research Center analysis of tweets reveals that key news events – from Baltimore, to Charleston, South Carolina, to Dallas – often serve as a catalyst for social media conversations about race.

Creator

Monica Anderson
Paul Hitlin

Source

http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/08/15/social-media-conversations-about-race/

Publisher

Pew Research Center

Date

August 15, 2016

Format

pdf

Type

Text

Coverage

United States

Comments

Citation

Monica Anderson and Paul Hitlin, “Social Media Conversations About Race: How social media users see, share, discuss race and the rise of hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter,” Antiracism Digital Library, accessed March 28, 2024, https://sacred.omeka.net/items/show/158.