Retweet for justice? Social media message amplification and Black Lives Matter allyship

Abstract

White allies can advance racial justice on social media by amplifying Black activists and educating their White friends. Social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram have different affordances for message amplification, with some showcasing the message creator and others the message amplifier. How might these visibility differences influence the reception of a message created by a Black activist and amplified by a White ally? Two online experiments (N1 = 328, N2 = 328) of White participants found that affordances prioritizing the White message amplifier over the Black message creator led to reduced perceptions of messenger racism when the message was holding White people accountable for the maintenance of racism. However, participants in these conditions also had a harder time identifying that the message creator was indeed a Black activist. These results demonstrate the important nuances of social identity and allyship effects in the context of social media affordances.

Unravelling the Two-Step Flow: A Social Network Analysis of the Indonesia U-20 World Cup Cancellation Discourse

“…Various forms of online activism exist, such as changing social media profile pictures and sharing posts about social issues [16]. For example, there are several online activism in social media, such as Black Live Matter, where white people can provide racial justice support by sharing black activist posts so they can convince other white friends of the benefits of racial justice, online activism using #freethenimple [17]hashtag and posts of topless photos to normalize the non-sexual representation of breasts and reclaim the female body [16] and #methoo movement which has the motive to get attention and action on the problem of sexual harassment by empowering women who have experienced sexual harassment by replying to Alyssa Milano's tweet "If you have been sexually harassed or assaulted write 'me to' as a reply to this tweet" [18]. Nevertheless, the use of hashtags in online activism can act as an initial initiative in generating important conversations to raise issues that require advocacy.…”

Infusing theology in changemaking curricula: Engaging justice natives with Christian social thought

“…As a result, one insidious impact of such connectedness is the illusion that liking a post about inclusion or changing one's profile picture to a rainbow flag during PRIDE month counts as significant social action. To be sure, the demonstration of allyship and normalizing or amplifying diverse voices is an important aspect of justice-based behaviors (Roden et al, 2023). The problematic nature of such engagement arises when the young person wipes the sweat off their brow after such nominal efforts and considers their work completed, rather than just beginning.…”