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Black Twitter

Black Twitter

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Updated Aug 12, 2020 at 09:14AM EDT by shevyrolet.

Added Aug 09, 2013 at 06:45PM EDT by Don.

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About

Black Twitter is an online social movement made of people of African American descent using the microblogging and social networking site Twitter.

Origin

The earliest known use of the term "Black Twitter" was in the title of an article titled "Black Twitter: A Starter Kit," which was published on the African American culture online magazine The Root[3] on February 4th, 2010. The article contained useful tips for using Twitter, arguing that the black community is a "powerful force" on the microblogging site.

Brown Twitter Bird

Brown Twitter Bird is a cartoon character and Twitter hashtag inspired by a controversial Slate article published on August 10th, 2010. The article featured an illustration of a Twitter bird with brown feather and a blue baseball cap with a hashtag printed on it (shown below, left), which many regarded as stereotypical and offensive. In response, many Twitter users made parody versions of the image, dressing the bird in a variety of different costumes (shown below, middle, right).



Spread

On January 18th, 2011, The Root[6] published an article titled "Black Twitter: Trending Topics Paint the Wrong Picture," reporting that black people make up 25% of all Twitter users. On December 13th, the African American news site News One[5] published a "Black Twitter History" infographic (shown below).


twitter Search QHome Profile Messages Black Twitter History @NewsOneOfficial New York, NY How Black America put Twitter on blast http://NewsOne.com NEWSONE Following Tweet to NewsOneOfficial Tweets Favorites Following ▼ Followers ▼ Lists▼ Jan 2007 First study noticing racial divide in social networks Berkeley researcher Danah Boyd notes Facebook users are whiter and richer, Myspace users poorer, more diverse 5 years ago Jun 2009 OMG! Black People! Blogger creates site to document white backlash to surging use of Twitter trending topics and hashtags by Black American:s 3 years ago Why are all these black people on trending topics? Neyo? Beyonce? Tyra? Jamie Foxx? Is it black history month again? LOL KashaSeptember

In March of 2012, writer Kimberly Ellis (a.k.a. "Dr. Goddess") held a presentation at the South by Southwest (SXSW)[7] conference in Austin, Texas titled "The Bombastic Brilliance of 'Black Twitter'." On December 20th, the men's interest blog Complex[8] published an article about negative misconceptions associated with Black Twitter. On February 18th, 2013, the black men's interest blog Single Black Male[4] published an article about the different types of Black Twitter users. On May 31st, the viral content site BuzzFeed[2] published a list titled "8 Things You'll Find on Black Twitter," which provided examples of tweets from Black Twitter. On the same day, The Huffington Post Live aired a segment on Black Twitter. On July 16th, BuzzFeed[1] published an article about the role Black Twitter played in killing the book deal for one of the jurors in George Zimmerman's trial. On the following day, CNN aired a segment on "The Influence of 'Black Twitter'," citing its involvement in the Trayvon Martin trial.

#WhitePeopleBoycottingEBONY

On August 7th, 2013, Ebony Magazine posted a tweet[9] mocking rumors that Tea Party activists would be boycotting the magazine for their September cover dedicated to the memory of Trayvon Martin (shown below). The same day, News One[10] reported that jokes about the rumored boycott subsequently circulated on the microblogging site under the hashtag "#WhitePeopleBoycottingEBONY."[11]


SYBRINA FULTON& TRACY T.D. JAKES: A PRAYER FOR H TERVIEW SYBRINA FULTON&TRACY MART Stop ence TRA ALL TRAYVR TRA Join the Moven SAVE OURS Join the Move to Change A Join the Mov to Change A nthe Moveme ange Americ

April Fools Subreddit Prank

On April 1st, 2019, the BlackPeopleTwitter subreddit announced that the subreddit is now lock and only for black people who verify their race through picture.[15] Redditor SomeoneStopMePlease posted a screenshot of the announcement to r/WatchRedditDie[13] with the caption, "cool Reddit is becoming segregated" which gained 1,900 points (92% upvoted) in two days (shown below, left). On April 2nd, Redditor 6ikz uploaded an Eric Andre "Let Me In" edit to r/BlackPeopleTwitter[14] with the caption "White people on Reddit finna riot cause they can't get into the Black People Twitter subreddit to talk shit" (shown below, right). The post accumulated 4,800 points (82% upvoted) in two days.


r/BlackPeopleTwitter ⓐ(SUBSCRIBED 2,965,459 subscribers 114,741 online BPT is now for black folks only. Should you wish to gain access to the sub, please see our p... Memes HOT POSTS u/DubTeeDub 1d Announcement: BlackPeopleTwitter is now for Black People Only IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT Due to the overwhelming amount of white people and white opinions present on BPT, we are now restricting access to this sub for black folks only. Should you wish to gain access to post... 會925 J 596 Share u/DubTeeDub -1d BPT is now publicly visible, but only verified users can comment/ post This Guy Right Here @Sickshoota White people on Reddit finna riot cause they can't get into the Black People Twitter subreddit to talk s--- LET ME IN [adult swim LET MEINNNNNN!! [adult s

On April 3rd, The BlackPeopleTwitter[12] subreddit moderators announced in a post that the subreddit was open again (shown below). They announced, "We recently made a change to our BPT that it would be for 'black people only.' While this was done as an April Fool’s joke, there was a very real reason behind it more than just some laughs." They also went on to explain their reasoning: "We wanted to bring to the forefront that this subreddit should never make people of color feel out of place here or that they do not belong and wanted to rebuild a sense of community." The post gained 9,600 points (65% upvoted) in two days.


/r/BlackPeopleTwitter is open to everyone again Announcement Ir/BlackPeople Twitter is open to everyone again We recently made a change to our BPT that it would be for "black people only." While this was done as an April Fool's joke, there was a very real reason behind it more than just some laughs. Much like how Ir/games closed their sub due to the amount of toxicity in the gaming community, the moderators of BPT wanted to address the level of racism, casual and very very real, that was being shared every day on our sub It was shared loudly and clearly by the black members of this community that many felt uncomfortable by how black voices were often drowned out of discussion in this subreddit, faced with various arguments blaming victims / defending bigoted actions, or otherwise making them feel unwelcome. We wanted to bring to the forefront that this subreddit should never make people of color feel out of place here or that they do not belong and wanted to rebuild a sense of community. Especially when the rest of Reddit can be overwhelmingly toxic and racist, and when this site continues to host dozens of actual white supremacist communities, the latest of which being Ir/SubForWhitePeopleOnly Some pointed out that this was no better than any of the racial injustices faced by black people. For the first time in some of your lives you were denied something because of the color of your skin. You protested and alled for action following in the footsteps of the black leaders killed for doing so. Many felt like it was a crime to be white. This is how people of color feel every day of their lives. Our mothers and fathers constantly worry about our safety every day. The difference is that for us this is never a joke. We cannot turn off the screens of our blackness or unsubscribe from racism. Reddit won't keep you from life opportunities. Hopefully those of you who never understood finally have an understanding of what it was like for our grandparents and what it is still like today We were incredibly blown away with how positive the response to our decision was. The fact that thousands upon thousands of people wanted to be verified and show off their hair products, or albums, or books, or anything else demonstrating their blackness and individuality was staggering. We still have literally thousands of comments, modmails, and posts that are pending. It is so great to see the huge amount of black people that use this sub and want a community here With that being said, we are reopening /r/blackpeopletwitter to everyone as of now, with the following change that black users will maintain their verified checkmark flairs. If we did not get to yours yet, rest assured we are still working on that. Reddit has a significantly ratelimit that only allows us to add a few hundred folks a day and it is incredibly challenging keeping up with the number of requests. Our inboxes have been so full that we have been unable to respond to many of you and we appreciate your patience. Over the past few months we have received many complaints from black users. They feel as if whenever a political topic comes up, white users discredit our experiences or downvote them because reality is too uncomfortable for memes. Hopefully these checkmarks will remind you that you are replying to someone who is actually black instead of someone performing digital blackface. BlackPeopleTwitter is not just tweets for you to laugh at. We are so much more than that. BPT has continued to make changes towards being an inclusive space. If you associate hating white people with calling out the problematic microaggressions towards POC, then you are the problem. We don't hate white users, but we certainly will not tolerate the demeaning of POC in any way in a space that they should feel they should be safe in. Reddit is full of mostly white subreddits. We have blackpeopletwitter. Thank you Mod Team

Search Interest

External References

[1] BuzzFeed News – The Secret of Black Twitter

[2] BuzzFeed – 8 Things You’ll Find On Black Twitter

[3] The Root (via Wayback Machine) – Black Twitter – A Starter Kit

[4] Single Black Male – Mean Girls – The Many Factions of Black Twitter

[5] News One – Black Twitter History Infographic

[6] The Root (via Wayback Machine) – Black Twitter – Trending Topics Paint Wrong Picture

[7] SXSW – The Bombastic Brilliance of Black Twitter

[8] Complex – The Miseducation of Black Twitter

[9] Twitter – Ebony

[10] News One – #WhitePeopleBoycottingEBONY Takes Over Black Twitte

[11] Twitter – #WhitePeopleBoycottingEBONY

[12] Reddit – r/BlackPeopleTwitter

[13] Reddit – r/WatchPeopleDie

[14] Reddit – r/BlackPeopleTwitter

[15] Reddit – r/OutofTheLoop

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