When Race Meets Technology: Examining Racial Discourse in the Social Media

Abstract

Traditionally, communities of different racial or ethnic backgrounds interacted and socialised among one another through traditional means such as the marketplace, workplace, schools, coffee shops and other public places. However, with the rapid increase in Internet consumption as well as the rise in broadband penetration, the Internet, especially social media, has fundamentally altered and transformed the way how people of various racial groups and ethnic backgrounds communicate and socialise. This has inadvertently resulted in a new form of a `virtual race relation' in the cyberspace. This paper aims to investigate the role and impact of social media towards race relations. Methodologically, a virtual ethnographic analysis is used to analyse textual contents and online discourses via postings on Facebook during a selected period of time. The findings in this research are evident that to a large extent, our multiracial society perceive and consume issues through multiple layers of cultural perspectives and racial bias, either consciously or subconsciously. While Malaysia's digital divide is getting narrower – with more and more people getting connected online – paradoxically, racial divide is increasing.