1/n: To continue with my previous post: I posited that the skyrocketing perceptions of discrimination among (primarily Liberal) Whites is at least partly a function of the digital/social media boom of the past decade. So what evidence is there in support of this hypothesis?
2/n: Before I directly answer this question, let's first survey the changing media landscape (forgot to source the graphs below, but they're derived from either Pew, ANES or Cooperative Congressional Election Studies data) 
3/n As you can see, digital/social media consumption has exploded since the beginning of the decade--with liberals generally leading the pack
4/n: One of the results of this boom has been a rise in 'digital activism', which many White Americans (Liberals, again, most markedly) are increasingly exposed to
5/n: So how does this transformation affect perceptions of discrimination? Across multiple datasets, I found that consuming online liberal newspapers and using social media results in greater perceptions of discrimination.
6/n: In general, those who exclusively consume PRINTED news perceive less discrimination against blacks
7/ Moreover, using data from the Pew Racial Attitudes 2016 survey, I found that greater exposure to race-related social media discourse results in perceiving MORE country-level discrimination against blacks
8/n If you've been following some of my previous tweets, you'll recall me showing that racial sympathy (reverse-coded 'racial resentment' scale) reached record levels among Liberals/Democratic Presidential Candidate voters in 2016.
9/n Interestingly, the trends discussed here appear to explain at least some of these record-increases.
10/n To be clear: the effects of social media/digital news consumption were also apparent in the ANES 2012. The difference now is that such consumption was limited to a minority of liberals back then, whereas it spread considerably in 2016.
11/n In other words: social media use/digital news consumption---> greater perceived discrimination. Thus: more liberals using social media/consuming digital news = greater perceived discrimination.
12/n I should also note that the effects of the media on public estimates of the prevalence of crime is a fairly researched topic in the communications/media psychology literature.
13/n It's just that the same theoretical principles (cultivation theory, availability bias etc.) have NEVER been applied to estimates of discrimination. I wonder why 🤔
14/ Anyways, have to hit the road soon so sorry if this seems kind of rushed. I'm in the middle of writing a paper that better elaborates/analyses what I've shared with you here. Hope to have a draft for you all to read soon! (End of thread)
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