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.