When microaggressions occur in live settings, they are often ephemeral, with few bystanders. “When they happen on social media platforms, it’s happening in front of a large audience – the scale is completely different and then they live on, for people to see forever,” said co-author Aditya Vashistha, assistant professor of information science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science.

After experiencing a microaggression, users had to decide how to respond. Regardless of whether they ignored the comment, reported it or tried to educate the other person, participants said it took an emotional toll. Many took breaks from social media or limited the information they shared online.