The Hate U Scroll: How Online Racism Shapes College Life

By: Joshua Cheng

In the 2017 award-winning young adult novel The Hate U Give, Starr scrolls through her phone as her city burns following a police shooting. Her feed fills with anger, ignorance, and pain, a virtual reflection of the world outside. For many young people of color today, that scene reads as all too familiar. Social media is not just a distraction; it is where identity, activism, and community meet relentless tides of racism.

A new paper by Dr. Yeawon Park and her colleagues asks a critical question: what is the effect of online racism on students of color at college—and can online coping mechanisms build resilience? The study, titled “Race and Anti-Racist Online Coping as Moderators of College Adjustment Associated with Exposure to Social Media Racism among Asian, Black, and Hispanic/Latine Students,” was completed by Dr. Park and colleagues and published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence. The research explores how exposure to social media racism affects students of color and examines whether anti-racist coping strategies can moderate its impact on college adjustment.

Social media is a lifeline for young adults. It’s where they connect, create, and learn. But it’s also where racism goes unregulated. Racist memes, slurs in comments, “jokes” that harm, and viral hate that spreads faster than facts.

For students of color, this online antagonism is layered on top of the process of navigating mostly white campuses, dealing with financial pressure, and fulfilling cultural expectations. Past scholarship shows that racial discrimination is harmful to mental well-being, but few have examined how online racism particularly affects students’ college adjustment. This recent
research fills that gap, focusing on Asian, Black, and Hispanic/Latine students. and whether their online anti-racist coping reactions can help.

Over 800 students of color from across the U.S. were polled, all of whom were active social media users between the ages of 18 and 24. They were queried on racism experiences online, how they handled them, and how they were adjusting to college academically, socially, and psychologically.

Their responses ranged from finding friendly online communities and challenging racism, to establishing safer online environments by unfollowing or blocking problematic content.

The researchers then looked for patterns: Did coping make online racism less damaging? And did results differ by racial group?

Online racism was unsurprisingly damaging. Students who experienced more discrimination online had worse mental health overall. The damage didn’t stop there, though—it also threatened how well they felt connected socially and how capable they felt academically.

Here’s the twist: students who used active, anti-racist coping styles were more resilient. They were more motivated, had better relationships, and better overall adjustment.

The protective effects of coping, however, weren’t evenly shared: Asian students were the biggest benefactors. Even weak levels of coping, like online support seeking or cultural community joining, essentially erased the link between discrimination and adjustment difficulties.

Black students also felt strong protection. Coping at high levels buffered the effect of racism quite a bit, especially on social and academic life.

Hispanic/Latine students had less robust benefits. In spite of strong coping, online racism still took its toll, especially on emotional well-being.

The results show that coping is effective but not equally effective or available by racial/ethnic group. Although the study did not examine cultural values, it proposed that such values could be some of the reasons for the difference. Collectivism, a focus on mutual responsibility and support, may make online mobilization or reaching out seem natural in many Asian and Black communities. These students can perhaps find strength in online communities like StopAsianHate or Black Twitter, where identity and solidarity thrive.

For Hispanic/Latine students, cultural values of familismo (family-centeredness) can provide a sense of belonging offline but make experiences of racism more complex online. The same values of harmony can occasionally lead to internal conflict in the presence of online hostility.

It’s a reminder that coping is not a function of willpower alone—it’s a function of culture, community, and context.

This study doesn’t paint social media as all bad. Rather, it shows how the very platforms that expose students to racism can also become wellsprings of strength. When young people use the internet to find allies, share their stories, and build community, they’re not hiding, they’re healing.

For colleges, the message is clear: online racism is real discrimination, and it needs real support. College counseling centers and student affairs offices can help students develop digital coping mechanisms, inclusive online communities, and offer workshops on racial stress management in the age of technology.

Social media racism is not background noise, but a current force that shapes how students learn, live, and belong. Yet in the same space, many are also mobilizing to push back, reclaim their narratives, and care for each other.

Like Starr in The Hate U Give, they’re scrolling through turmoil but choosing to respond with resilience, community, and imagination. The hate they find online may never disappear—but the way they find it might just change what it means to be online and belong.

Reference:

Park, Y. W., Tao, X., & Fisher, C. B. (2025). Race and Anti-Racist Online Coping as Moderators of College Adjustment Associated with Exposure to Social Media Racism among Asian, Black, and Hispanic/Latine Students. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 54(8), 2062–2076. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-025-02177-w