Media Ecology / Power in the media - Social Media politicized for BLM

Social media platforms have served as great information for political engagement and social activism for years, especially for the Black Americans. This was obvious in 2020, when an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, was killed by a White Minneapolis police officer which resulted in widespread protests that demonstrated the reach and power of these platforms.

From both 2016 and 2018, the idea that although race-related hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter are consistent on platforms like Twitter. Spikes in the usage of these hashtags often correspond with current events.

Black social media users

Although engaging in political behaviors and types of activism on media platforms is not limited to any one group, Black social media users are often more likely than their brothers and sisters from other racial and ethnic backgrounds to engage in different types of political activities on social media and to believe these activities are more effective. Black American social media users are among those most likely to use these platforms for activities related to causes and issues.

                                           

The types of online activism engaged in by Black social media users varies by age, with younger Black users being more likely to do these things than older Black users. But overall, 48% of Black social media users said they posted a picture to show their support for a cause on social media. While a similar share said the same about encouraging others to take action on issues that are important to them or looking for information about rallies or protests happening in their area. One-third of Black users reported using a hashtag related to a political or social issue on social media. 

Across some of these activities, Black Americans who use social media were more likely to have engaged in these activism-related behaviors on Social Media platforms in the past month when compared with those from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. For instance, Black users (45%) were more likely to encourage others to take action on issues that were important to them when compared with White (30%) and Hispanic users (33%). The same was generally true across different groups when it came to posting a photo to show support for a cause.

Substantial shares of Black social media users consider media platforms at least somewhat personally important to them for purposes of finding others who share their ideologies, getting involved with issues that are important to them and expressing their political opinions – and these figures have remained relatively consistent.

Their views also closely align with those of Hispanic users. For example, about half or more of Black and Hispanic adults who use social media say that these platforms are very or somewhat important to them for finding others who share their views and getting involved with political or social issues that are important to them, compared with about four-tenths of White users. Similarly, about half of Black and Hispanic users say these platforms are personally important to them when it comes to giving them a venue to express their political opinions, compared with smaller shares of White users (34%) who say the same.

Age is also a massive factor, with Black social media users age 18 to 49 being more likely to say social media are at least somewhat important to them for getting involved with issues that are important to them, compared with those 50 and older (65% vs. 51%).

Black, Hispanic and Asian American users stand out from White users in how effective they think social media are at achieving some social and political aims. About seven-tenths of Black, Hispanic and Asian users say social media is effective for changing people’s minds about political or social issues, compared with half of White users who say the same. These views generally hold truth when influencing policy decisions and getting elected officials to pay attention to issues that are mentioned. As to whether social media are seen as very or somewhat effective for creating sustained social movements, Black and Hispanic users (82% for both) are more likely to say this than White Americans (76%) who use these platforms. Some 77% of Asian Americans who use social media say these platforms are effective for this aim.