THE FORCEOF

BLACK TWITTER:THE USE OF TWITTER TO SPEAR CULTURAL

MOVEMENTS

COM 600 By Padraic Kane

(UX REPO.2015)

Author Note: This presentation was prepared for COM 600: Social Media Theory and Practice, Taught by Jennifer Grygiel

WHAT IS BLACK TWITTER?

• MEREDITH CLARK, A PROFESSOR AT THE MAYBORN SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS DEFINES BLACK TWITTER AS, “A TEMPORALLY LINKED GROUP OF CONNECTORS THAT SHARE CULTURE, LANGUAGE AND INTEREST IN SPECIFIC ISSUES AND TALKING ABOUT SPECIFIC TOPICS WITH A BLACK FRAME OF REFERENCE” (RAMSEY,2015).

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/04/the-truth-about-black-twitter/390120/

PERSONAL COMMUNITY

• PEOPLE THAT YOU ARE CONNECTED WITH IN SOME OTHER DIMENSION OTHER THAN TWITTER.

(Huffington Post, 2014)http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2366826/images/o-ERIC-GARNER-PROTEST-facebook.jpg

JUSTICE-DRIVEN TOPICS

• INDIVIDUALS SPECIFICALLY TWEET TOGETHER ABOUT CERTAIN TOPICS

• TOPICS CAN RANGE FROM ANYTHING TO RACE, RELIGION, IDEALS, AND SPECIFIC THINGS DEPENDING ON LOCATION (RAMSEY,2015).

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/04/the-truth-about-black-twitter/390120/

THE META-NETWORK

• WHEN THE PUBLIC COMMUNITY INTERSECTS WITH THESE MEANINGFUL TOPICS, THEY FORM A META NETWORK VIA SOCIAL MEDIA THAT ALLOWS THEM TO DEVELOP AND GENERATE A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS AROUND THESE IMPORTANT TOPICS (RAMSEY,2015).

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/04/the-truth-about-black-twitter/390120/

FORMING OF NEIGHBORHOODS ONLINE

• SOCIAL MEDIA SITES ALLOW FOR A PLACE FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY TO BE HEARD WHETHER THEY ARE DISCUSSING ENTERTAINMENT, THE COUNTLESS MURDERS, HARASSMENT, AND ASSAULT OF BLACK MEN AND WOMEN, OR THE EVERYDAY INSTANCES OF RACISM AND SEXISM THAT WE EXPERIENCE DAY AFTER DAY (NEWITZ,2014).

http://io9.com/what-happens-when-scientists-study-black-twitter-1630540515

TWITTER ACTIVISM(Vanderaan, 2015)

BLACK YOUTH AND SOCIAL MEDIA

• 73% OF AFRICAN AMERICAN INTERNET USERS—AND 96% OF THOSE AGES 18-29—USE A SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE OF SOME KIND.

• AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE EXHIBITED RELATIVELY HIGH LEVELS OF TWITTER USE.

• 22% OF ONLINE BLACKS ARE TWITTER USERS, COMPARED WITH 16% OF ONLINE WHITES.

Table 1. (Smith,2014)

http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/01/06/african-americans-and-technology-use/

THE POWER OF A HASHTAG• HASHTAGS HAVE THE POWER TO START CONVERSATIONS.

• WITH TWITTER BEING ABLE TO HELP PEOPLE MOBILIZE, IT IS THE NEXT STEP IN THE EVOLUTION OF DIGITAL ACTIVISM, AND NOW PEOPLE CAN USE THIS MEDIUM IN ORDER TO REGISTER THEIR OPINIONS AND FEELINGS (WILLIAMS, 2015).

(Image made via TagCloud App)

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/06/the-power-of-black-twitter.html

#BLACKLIVESMATTER VS. #ALLLIVESMATTER

(Kleeman, 2014)http://mic.com/articles/105002/15-black-lives-matter-tweets-everyone-needs-to-see#.numGtFqJi

#BRINGBACKOURGIRLS

(Kleeman, 2014)

http://mic.com/articles/105002/15-black-lives-matter-tweets-everyone-needs-to-see#.numGtFqJi

BLACK VOICES AS THE GATEKEEPER

• BLACK PEOPLE HAVE A PLATFORM TO AIR GRIEVANCES AND DEMAND ACTION. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WHITE PEOPLE IN AMERICA OFTEN TAKE FOR GRANTED BECAUSE THEY ARE READILY AVAILABLE (RAMSEY,2015).

• SOCIAL MEDIA NO LONGER HAS TO HEAR BLACK STORIES THROUGH THE LENS OF WHITE OBSERVERS.

(Iemoji, 2015)

https://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Media,%20Culture%20and%20Society/gatekeeping/http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/04/the-truth-about-black-twitter/390120/

DIVERSITY WITHIN SOCIAL CIRCLES

• BLACK TWITTER IS MUCH MORE THAN THE SHADE OF BLACKNESS, WITHIN THIS COMMUNITY. ANY DESCRIPTOR THAT YOU MAY USE TO TALK ABOUT A GROUP OF PEOPLE APPLIES TO BLACK TWITTER (RAMSEY, 2015).

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/04/the-truth-about-black-twitter/390120/

REFRENCES• (N.D.). RETRIEVED DECEMBER 8, 2015, FROM HTTP://

PIX.IEMOJI.COM/IMAGES/EMOJI/APPLE/8.3/256/BLACK-RAISED-FIST.PNG• (N.D.). RETRIEVED DECEMBER 8, 2015, FROM HTTP://

UXREPO.COM/STATIC/ICON-SETS/BRANDICO/SVG/TWITTER-BIRD.SVG• ERIC GARNER PROTEST. (N.D.). RETRIEVED DECEMBER 8, 2015, FROM HTTP://

I.HUFFPOST.COM/GEN/2366826/IMAGES/O-ERIC-GARNER-PROTEST-FACEBOOK.JPG • GATEKEEPING. (N.D.). RETRIEVED DECEMBER 8, 2015, FROM HTTPS

://WWW.UTWENTE.NL/CW/THEORIEENOVERZICHT/THEORY%20CLUSTERS/MEDIA,%20CULTURE%20AND%20SOCIETY/GATEKEEPING/

• KLEEMAN, S. (N.D.). 15 #BLACKLIVESMATTER TWEETS EVERYONE NEEDS TO SEE. RETRIEVED DECEMBER 8, 2015, FROM HTTP://MIC.COM/ARTICLES/105002/15-BLACK-LIVES-MATTER-TWEETS-EVERYONE-NEEDS-TO-SEE#.NUMGTFQJI

• NEWITZ, A. (2014, SEPTEMBER 4). WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SCIENTISTS STUDY "BLACK TWITTER"? RETRIEVED DECEMBER 11, 2015, FROM HTTP://IO9.COM/WHAT-HAPPENS-WHEN-SCIENTISTS-STUDY-BLACK-TWITTER-1630540515

• RAMSEY, D. (2015, APRIL 10). THE TRUTH ABOUT BLACK TWITTER. RETRIEVED DECEMBER 8, 2015, FROM HTTP://WWW.THEATLANTIC.COM/TECHNOLOGY/ARCHIVE/2015/04/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-BLACK-TWITTER/390120/

• SMITH, A. (2015, JANUARY 6). AFRICAN AMERICANS AND TECHNOLOGY USE: A DEMOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT. RETRIEVED DECEMBER 11, 2015, FROM HTTP://WWW.PEWINTERNET.ORG/2014/01/06/AFRICAN-AMERICANS-AND-TECHNOLOGY-USE/

• VANDERAAN, V. (2015, JUNE 1). #BLKPWRTWITTR. RETRIEVED DECEMBER 8, 2015, FROM HTTP://WWW.MONEYTECHTIMES.COM/2015/06/BLKPWRTWITTR/

• WILLIAMS, S. (2015, JULY 6). POWER OF BLACK TWITTER. RETRIEVED DECEMBER 8, 2015, FROM HTTP://WWW.THEDAILYBEAST.COM/ARTICLES/2015/07/06/THE-POWER-OF-BLACK-TWITTER.HTML

ANY QUESTIONS?