  Online social spaces are increasingly salient contexts for associative tie
formation. However, the racial composition of associative networks within most
of these spaces has yet to be examined. In this paper, we use data from the
social media platform Twitter to examine racial segregation patterns in online
associative networks. Acknowledging past work on the role that social structure
and agency play in influencing the racial composition of individuals' networks,
we argue that Twitter blurs the influence of these forces and may invite users
to generate networks that are both more or less segregated than what has been
observed offline, depending on use. While we expect to find some level of
racial segregation within this space, this paper unpacks the extent to which we
observe same-race connectedness for black and white users, assesses whether
these patterns are likely generated by opportunity or by choice, and
contextualizes results by comparing them with patterns of same-race
connectedness observed offline.
