The dual impact of social media on Asian Americans’ racial identity and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Based on social identity theory and the resilience literature, this study explored the ways social media impacted Asian Americans’ emotional well-being, racial identity negotiation, and coping strategies amid the surge in anti-Asian discourses during the Covid-19 pandemic. We interviewed 32 Asian Americans aged 18–59 ( M = 26.63, SD = 7.66; 28% = Ethnic Chinese) who had experienced anti-Asian sentiment on social media during the pandemic. Our study shows that social media played a contradictory role in how Asian Americans experience and cope with the surge in anti-Asian sentiment. Findings from our thematic analysis demonstrate that (1) the negative experiences of social media in conjunction with racial identity that influences Asian Americans’ psychological well-being, (2) the positive role of social media offering a space for collective solidarity, and (3) the positive role of social media activism as a means of collective coping and resilience.