#PerformativeAllyship? – The Effect of Anti-Racist Instagram Posts and Politicized Identity on Activism by the Advantaged Group

Abstract

Support of anti-racist movements on social media has grown in the last years. Interestingly, many of the individuals engaging in anti-racist activism online are not targeted by racism themselves. Based on the concept of politicized identity, this research investigated if structurally advantaged group members taking part in social media activism in support of the disadvantaged group would be more likely to engage in collective action. The study used a simulated Instagram feed through which half of the participants reposted an anti-racist Instagram post. It was expected that posting would indirectly lead to more collective action in advantaged group members by strengthening their politicized anti-racist ally identity. The results indicate that the social media activism of advantaged group members does not affect if their further engagement in collective action. Posting anti-racist content leads to less offline activism for advantaged group members. However, this effect is supressed by the politicized identity of a person, which promotes collective action. Further, a strong politicized identity is an important predictor of collective action for advantaged group members. Finally, the study showed that intentions of collective action strongly predict the behaviour of collective action in advantaged group members.