The Internet ended the social isolation that once constrained racists

Evidence

Although prejudice and stereotyping are ubiquitous in modern American society, most individuals hold strong beliefs in egalitarianism that prevent them from being openly hostile toward members of other groups. Indeed, theories of modern prejudice are based on the notion that prejudice must be rationalized in some way to avoid conflict with deeply held values of fairness (e.g., Dovidio & Gaertner, 1991; Kinder & Sears, 1981). Nevertheless, there are still a small percentage of individuals who cling to old-fashioned prejudices and believe that other races are inferior to whites. Until recently, individuals who hold such beliefs were becoming increasingly isolated, as their viewpoints were not socially sanctioned and to express them in public was to risk attack, rejection, and sometimes legal or other official penalties. With the advent of the Internet, however, cyber groups of every sort have proliferated, and members of hate groups now have a forum in which they can communicate freely with like-minded individuals. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 982

With the advent of the Internet, however, cyber groups of every sort have proliferated, and members of hate groups now have a forum in which they can communicate freely with like-minded individuals. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 982

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to research on online radicalization and how anonymous/distant fora lower the cost of expressing socially sanctioned views — parallels Zeynep Tufekci’s work on networked publics and extremist echo chambers. — connects to: Media technologies offer only new forms of loneliness across successive eras — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life: Writings on…, 493
• corroborated: 4 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 982