Race in Cyberspace: College Students’ Moral Identity and Engagement with Race-Related Issues on Social Media

Abstract

This quantitative study explored social media usage among college students attending urban public universities in the Southeastern U.S., focusing on their engagement with race-related issues online and examining whether this engagement was related to moral identity. Multiple regression analyses indicated that frequent social media use and race were significant predictors of online responses to race-related issues (when compared to age, gender, and religiosity) and that, among White students, there was a strong positive association between high symbolization of moral identity and engagement with race-related issues online. This study is meant to help educators recognize ways in which students’ moral identity and social media use may be facilitating or impeding race relations online and to present specific actions they can take to address racism on social media.