Thumbs Up to Get Feet on the Ground? How Social Media Affects Ethnic Identities

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of political communication using ethnic references on social media. It poses two main questions: Do references to ethnic identities boost engagement online, and does social media communication by ethnic organizations lead to more individual ethnic identification? In order to answer these questions, an original sample of more than 200,000 Facebook comments was collected, and the survey data were linked to ethnic parties’ online accounts. Relying on insights from social identity theory, it was found that posts with ethnic identity references on social media received more engagement in the form of likes and shares. Individuals who could be exposed to such online content exhibited higher levels of identification with their ethnic in-group. The findings raise questions about whether social media amplifies ethnic tensions, and they carry implications for the governance of digital platforms.