Human Rights

White People Are Less Likely To See Race-Related Tweets

Compared to white social media users, black and Hispanic social media users are significantly more likely to see race-related posts.

White People Are Less Likely To See Race-Related Tweets
SMS

Your race has a lot to do with what you see on Twitter, according to a new Pew Research survey.

According to the survey, "Two thirds of black social media users say that most or some of the posts they see on social media are about race." Compared to white social media users, black and Hispanic social media users are significantly more likely to see race-related posts.

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Pew also analyzed public tweets from 2015 through March 2016. Around 60 percent of race-related tweets were about current events. 

Seven percent of those tweets were about celebrities or entertainment, 10 percent were about the presidential election and 7 percent were about police or the judicial system. Another 35 percent were lumped into "other current events."

Those tweets on the police and the judicial system cover things like officer-involved shootings and the #BlackLivesMatter movement. But not all of those using the popular hashtag were necessarily supporters. Pew found 11 percent of tweets with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter "were critical of the movement and/or the actions of its supporters."

In addition to seeing more race-related posts, Pew says, "Black social media users are more likely than whites or Hispanics to use social media to discuss race."

Pew didn't conclusively answer why black social media users see more posts about race. But for perspective, 500 million tweets were published every day in 2015, and race-related tweets made up just .04 percent.