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(Thread) Here are the key findings from our latest (free!) article: ‘Racism, Hate Speech, and Social Media: A Systematic Review and Critique.' https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1527476420982230
In this paper, @andairamf and I review 104 academic articles from 2014-2018 examining racism, hate speech, and social media. We explore the prevalence of: (1) geographical contexts (2) platforms (3) methods, (4) positionality statements, and (5) critical race perspectives (2/11)
Overall, we find “a lack of geographical and platform diversity and an absence of critical race perspectives and researchers’ reflexive dialogue with their object of study" (p. 205) (3/11)
We find that Twitter is far overrepresented in the field, likely due to the openness of the platform's APIs. This points to a grave need for more varied research (4/11)
In terms of geo-politics, the United States is more studied than the rest of the world combined. This shows a lack of geographical diversity (5/11)
Methodologically, we find an equal representation of qualitative and quantitative studies. Within both approaches, however, text-based methods dominate. This points to a need for more engaged and interactional research (6/11)
In terms of positionality statements and critical race perspectives, we find a lack of reflections about researcher positionalities and engagement with critical race perspectives - especially in quantitative research (7/11)
Finally, we find a discrepancy between qualitative and quantitative work. The first primarily uses the term 'racism,' the latter uses 'hate speech.' This points to a divide within the field and a lack of quantitative engagement with structural aspects of discrimination (8/11)
Based on all of this, we conclude that "there is a dire need for a broader range of research, going beyond text-based analyses of overt and blatant racist speech, Twitter and the United States" (p. 218) (9/11)
Importantly, we also "double down on @JessieNYC and other scholars' call for a commitment to critical race perspectives for interrogating the inner workings of social media platforms" (p. 219) (10/11)
In sum, we need broader and more critical engagement with racism on social media. This echoes calls from scholars like @safiyanoble, @lnakamur, @brendesha, @whkchun, @BronwynCarlson Martin Nakata, and @JessieNYC - whose work we are deeply inspired by! (11/11)
Bonus info: The article is part of a fantastic special issue on nationalism, racism and digital media - currently freely available! Edited by @KaarinaNikunen, @MerviPantti and @GavanTitley. Articles by @eugeniasiapera, @AskaniusTina and more! https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/tvna/22/2
