Adolescence, race, and ethnicity on the Internet: A comparison of discourse in monitored vs. unmonitored chat rooms

Scholars have argued that the Internet could bring about the realization of an electronic global village, with no race, gender, infirmities, or the social problems that often accompany these physical indicators of difference. In this study, we explored this issue by conducting content and discourse analyses of online conversations about race and ethnicity in teen chat rooms. A key focus of our research was to compare the racial and ethnic discourse in monitored vs. unmonitored teen chat rooms. Contrary to the claims of Internet scholars, we found that race and ethnicity were frequently mentioned in teen chat: 37 out of 38 half-hour transcripts had at least one racial or ethnic utterance. While most references had a neutral or positive valence in both monitored and unmonitored chat rooms, chat participants, nonetheless, had a 19% chance of being exposed to negative remarks about a racial or ethnic group (potentially their own) in monitored chat and a 59% chance in unmonitored chat. Statistical analysis indicated that racial or ethnic slurs were significantly more frequent in the unmonitored than in the monitored chat rooms. These findings suggest that, in the absence of social controls, such as a monitor, negative intergroup attitudes can surface. The implication is that more attention needs to be paid to reducing prejudice in both online and offline contexts. D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.