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Journal of the Association for Information Systems

Abstract

Although past studies have identified numerous ways in which social media (SM) can exacerbate social bias, discrimination, and ostracism, this study offers promising evidence that SM can also be a conduit for social good. In particular, we advance the concept of social media-enabled intergroup contact (SMIC) as a means of fostering social cohesion, before theorizing its effects on an in-group’s behavior toward primary and secondary out-groups. We report on a 3-day randomized field experiment involving 218 Instagram users in Germany, who formed our in-group. Our findings suggest that SMIC leads an ethnic in-group (in our case, Germans) to perceive an ethnic out-group (people of Middle Eastern descent in Germany) as warmer and more competent. These improved perceptions, in turn, are linked to increased facilitation (both active and passive) and decreased harm (also active and passive) toward that ethnic out-group (people of Middle Eastern descent in Germany). Furthermore, in our study, these effects of SMIC spilled over to another, secondary out-group that was not involved in the intergroup encounter (in our case, LGBTQIA+ people), resulting in less active and passive harm being directed toward this group as well. Our study illustrates how SM can be employed to mend intergroup relations and addresses the corresponding digital responsibilities of SM platforms, individual users, and regulators.

DOI

10.17705/1jais.01007

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