Did You See That Post?: The Contribution of Instagram to Racial Injustice & Rebellious Communication

Abstract

For many years, social media platforms have been utilized as tools for political advocacy and social activism, particularly by people who have experienced racial injustice. This was made apparent once more in 2020, when George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was killed by a White Minneapolis police officer, culminating in massive protests that illustrated the influence and strength of these platforms. Using a close-ended survey, this study aims to examine how Instagram contributes to rebellious communication and social movements against racial injustice. Specifically, this study augments the current understanding of rebellious communication through the following theoretical lenses: Stuart Hall’s Theory of Message Reception (Hall, 1993), Situation Theory of Problem Solving (Kim et al., 2021), Social Identity of Model of Collective Action (Van Zomeren et al., 2008), and Contact Hypothesis (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2005). One of the major findings from this study was that the number of direct encounters with people who have experienced racial injustice predicted high levels of engagement in rebellious communication on Instagram, participation in protests against racial injustice, and support for laws and policies that promote racial equality. This finding is somewhat in line with previous research that direct encounters with people who have experienced racial injustice are a learning experience for individuals. However, another significant finding that ran counter to expectations is that the level of exposure to racial injustice content was not a major influence.