The Relationship Between Ethnicity and the Online Experience

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

ETHNICITY & THE ONLINE EXPERIENCE

Image: Flickr – Tim Wang

The experience of the ONLINE WORLD

has been different for

ETHNIC MINORITIES through:

The access to technology 1

2 The usage of technology

The internet was once

considered a great EQUALISER, a

platform that could bring

strangers together, even

ACROSS RACIAL BOUNDARIES [15]

- Microsoft researcher Danah Boyd

“ “

Despite hopes of becoming an inclusive

environment, access to the internet was

NOT EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED among all

ethnicities.

Image via flickr

Digital Divide:The separation between

the “HAVES” and the “HAVE-NOTS”

regarding access to information and communication technology [5]. It

demonstrates

SOCIAL INEQUALITY [14].

Ex. Internet use and High-speed broadband access

By 2009 the digital divide between African-American

households and white households reached 20.1%[5].

Today, there is still a 12% difference between

African-American households and white households

with broadband connection[11].

Photo by drubuntu - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/51980416@N03 Created with Haiku Deck

Even with this increase in access to

the online world, there is still a

racial distinction in it’s use.

Photo by andrewrennie - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/29712408@N02 Created with Haiku Deck

The Canadian smartphone industry is

growing drastically [4] with ethnic

minorities as major consumers

African-

American teens

are more likely

than whites

and Hispanics

to access the

online world

through their

mobile devices [9].

Almost

100% of African-

American teens

say they are

online

“ALMOST

CONSTANTLY” [9].

An increase in accessing the online world

through mobile phones correlates with

the growth of Social Media

and it’s various platforms

Image: Flickr

Those of the same ethnicity tend to congregate

on social media platforms where the race they

identify with is largely represented

Image: Flickr

“All of the DIVISIONS that

exist in every day life,

including those by race

and class, actually

RE-EMERGE ONLINE“ [1].

“ “

For Example[3]:

% of people

who say they

are

INSTAGRAM

users

38% Black

34% Hispanic

21% white

% of people who say they are

PINTEREST users

12% Black

21% Hispanic

32% White

Photo by eldh - Creative Commons Attribution License https://www.flickr.com/photos/22480788@N08 Created with Haiku Deck

TWITTER, since it’s creation, has been

extremely popular among African-American

and Hispanic users.

Photo by victoriapeckham - Creative Commons Attribution License https://www.flickr.com/photos/48266396@N00 Created with Haiku Deck

Furthermore, various ONLINE COMMUNITIES have

been created on twitter to express

COLLECTIVE FRUSTRATIONS or ideas [6]

The most prominent being African-

American twitter users commonly

referred to online as “Black Twitter”

The African-American

community on twitter has

been a catalyst for social

change through

CLICKTIVISM

Image: Flickr- Kate Dreyer

CLICKTIVISM:Online social activism including

TWEETING, RE-TWEETING, LIKING

or otherwise showing support to social

issues through social media.

It raises awareness through constant exposure in the online world [10] and

has proven to be used quite effectively [12].

64% of people said would be more inclined to show support in other ways

like volunteering or donating after participating in clicktivism online. [7]

“SOCIAL MEDIA is a great way to AMPLIFY

voices that would not otherwise be

amplified [2].”Image: Flickr- Tamara Craiu

“This story was put on the map, driven, and followed on social media more so than any story I can remember since the Arab spring [13].”

Image: flickr - @scottlum

-Chris Hayes, a New York Times reporter, on Ferguson protests online and in reality

Movements created by African American users on twitter

such as #IfTheyGunnedMeDown and

#BlackLivesMatter demonstrate effective clicktivism.

Image: Flickr - Scottlum

Works Cited1. Danzico, Matt. "Is the Social Web Divided by Race?" BBC News. 3 July 2012. Web. 2. Daly, Nora. "How Has Social Media Changed the Way We Talk about Race and Justice?" PBS. PBS, 15 Aug. 2014.

Web.3. Duggan, Maeve, Nicole B. Ellison, Cliff Lampe, Amanda Lenhart, and Mary Madden. "Demographics of Key Social

Networking Platforms." Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS. 9 Jan. 2015. Web. 4. Eichler, Leah. "Sorry to Be Rude, but My Smartphone Needs My Attention." The Globe and Mail. 4 Oct. 2013.

Web. 5. Finney, Leon D., Dr. "Blacks Surge Overcome Race Based Digital Divide." Chicago Defender: Mar

2012. ProQuest. Web.6. Jones, Feminista. "Is Twitter the Underground Railroad of Activism?" Saloncom RSS. 17 July 2013. Web.7. Kielburger, Craig, and Marc Kielburger. "A Click Is Not Enough to Have Impact on World." Canoe.com. 10 Apr.

2015. Web. 12 June 2015. 8. Krogstad, Jens Manuel. "Social Media Preferences Vary by Race and Ethnicity." Pew Research Center RSS. 3 Feb.

2015. Web. 9. Lenhart, Amanda. "Mobile Access Shifts Social Media Use and Other Online Activities." Pew Research Centers

Internet American Life Project RSS. 8 Apr. 2015. Web. 10. Sharma, Ritu. "Stop Pouring Ice on Clicktivism." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 Aug. 2014.

Web.11. Smith, Aaron. "African Americans and Technology Use: A Demographic Portrait." Pew Research Centers Internet

American Life Project RSS. 6 Jan. 2014. Web. 12. Stern, Caryl. "In Praise of Clicktivism." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 31 Mar. 2015. Web.13. Watkins, S. Craig. "Addressing Race, Inequity Issues Through Social Media Power." DML Central. 22 Sept. 2014.

Web. 14. Wu, Ya-Huei et al. “Bridging the Digital Divide in Older Adults: A Study from an Initiative to Inform Older Adults

about New Technologies.” Clinical Interventions in Aging 10 (2015): 193–201. PMC. Web. 10 June 2015.