Discrimination and Black Social Media Use: Sites of Oppression and Expression

Abstract

The authors investigate the association between self-reported experiences of discrimination and social media use among Black American adults. Experiences of discrimination were assessed using a 10-question scale of self-reported discrimination encounters. Data analysis was based on a sample of 220 Black American adult respondents residing in Texas. The results indicate that Black Americans reporting higher levels of discrimination use social media more frequently than those who report lower levels of discrimination. In addition, Black Americans who experience higher levels of discrimination are more likely to have accounts on Twitter or Facebook than those who experience lower levels of discrimination. Together, these findings suggest that social media sites such as Twitter serve as sites of expression for people of color to air their grievances, find community, and cope with online and offline forms of racism and discrimination.