Accompany me – using a virtual learning companion to inform adolescents in Germany about everyday racism on social media

Social media offer valuable benefits ranging from social exchange to entertainment. However, everyday racism is also part of many users’ daily social media experience. Unlike overt racist attacks such as name-calling or humiliation, everyday racism often manifests in subtle, unconscious assumptions and remarks that may initially appear harmless but can be deeply hurtful to those affected. As everyday racism often appears “hidden,” there is a lack of sophisticated approaches to raise awareness of everyday racism on social media. Related research has shown that virtual learning companions (VLCs) can support users in various digital contexts. Therefore, we consider a VLC for raising awareness and informing users about everyday racism on social media, with the aim to improve their ability to recognize everyday racism. In the long term, this should empower users to actively counteract everyday racism, by reporting posts that reflect discriminatory content. Results from an experimental study (N = 100; participants aged 13 to 16) indicate that prior experiences of discrimination and exclusion impair users’ ability to recognize everyday racism accurately in social media posts. Repeatedly addressing everyday racism increased performances in detecting it. This paper discusses practical implications for the use of VLCs and ethical considerations.