Examining the Social Media Antecedents of Racial Justice: Evidence from Twitter

Abstract

Despite an increasing body of research focusing on the use of social media posts for inferring various social phenomena such as influenza spread, political preferences, or information diffusion, less attention has been given to the influence such posts have on user attitudes. Rooted at the nexus of social capital, sociolinguistics, and the theory of critical consciousness, this study aims to explore the social media factors playing a role in racial justice attitude development. Using a matched sample of 5,365 Twitter users, we demonstrate the impact of user posts' topical diversity and bridging and bonding capital on the likelihood of engaging in antiracist discourse online in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder.

Motivated Bias in Detecting Climate Change Misinformation

“…Studies have also shown how the gendered habitus and its obstruction to social equity can impact the social capital one can access, highlighting the need for collective communal enterprise to foster unity and facilitate social capital creation and maintenance (Burt, 1998;Fiesler et al, 2016). Different forms of social capital may activate different types of narrative agency, which may further help to raise awareness and help boost cooperative outcomes (Tacheva et al, 2021). Such collective activities can engender a sense of communal affinity which can become a key vehicle for seeking and providing guidance, support, and care.…”