ABSTRACT

Do social media simply reproduce political inequality between racial groups or are they powerful tools for marginalized racial groups to contest the status quo? This study examined resource-based and identity-based theoretical explanations for differences between White people and racial/ethnic minorities in political expression on social media. Across 4 nationally representative surveys collected in the United States (2016 & 2018), we found that White people (vs. Black, Asian, and sometimes Hispanic people) had a slightly higher probability of engaging in different forms of political expression on social media. However, Black people and people from some numerically smaller racial/ethnic groups were more likely than White people to engage in symbolic behaviors such as using hashtags and changing their profile picture. While there was some evidence that differences in socioeconomic status and political interest may explain White people’s higher likelihood of political expression, identity-related factors played a counter-stratifying role. Racial/ethnic minorities were more likely than White people to view their racial group as having too little influence in American politics, a perception which was in turn positively related to political expression on social media. We use our findings – and their limitations – to argue for more robust theorization and measurement in the study of race in political communication on social media.

摘要

社交媒体是简单地复制种族群体之间的政治不平等，还是边缘化种族群体争夺现状的有力工具？本研究探讨了基于资源和基于身份的理论解释，解释了白人和少数族裔在社交媒体上的政治表达方面的差异。在美国（2016 年和 2018 年）收集的 4 项具有全国代表性的调查中，我们发现白人（相对于黑人、亚裔，有时是西班牙裔）在社交媒体上参与不同形式的政治表达的可能性略高。然而，黑人和来自一些数量较少的种族/族裔群体的人比白人更有可能从事象征性行为，例如使用标签和更改他们的个人资料图片。虽然有一些证据表明，社会经济地位和政治利益的差异可以解释白人政治表达的更高可能性，但与身份相关的因素起到了反分层的作用。种族/少数族裔比白人更有可能认为他们的种族群体对美国政治的影响太小，这种看法反过来与社交媒体上的政治表达正相关。我们使用我们的研究结果及其局限性来论证在社交媒体上政治传播中的种族研究中更强大的理论和测量。种族/少数族裔比白人更有可能认为他们的种族群体对美国政治的影响太小，这种看法反过来与社交媒体上的政治表达正相关。我们使用我们的研究结果及其局限性来论证在社交媒体上政治传播中的种族研究中更强大的理论和测量。种族/少数族裔比白人更有可能认为他们的种族群体对美国政治的影响力太小，这种看法反过来与社交媒体上的政治表达正相关。我们使用我们的研究结果及其局限性来论证在社交媒体上政治传播中的种族研究中更强大的理论和测量。