I decided to do my video ethnography on #BlackTwitter because I'm an active participant of it, and because I find myself asking the question, "why," each time I log onto twitter. Why are so many Blacks, whether African or Caribbean American, so involved in the world of social media? Why are topics spoken about online limited to what I would consider to be racial points of view? Why aren't more people of other races using twitter in the same way that Blacks do?
As I've been doing research online about Black Twitter, I began to notice that I'm not the only person who's intrigued by the success of Black social media users. Many online news sites have cited #BlackTwitter as a guiding point that is helping to shape culture and pushing to a more racially acceptable world. Social media has taken the black community by storm and has brought to light many injustices that are done to blacks across the country today. I think that what makes #BlackTwitter and black social media users so powerful is that it is creating a safe haven and a platform for the black community to support each other despite geography and economic situations.
While doing research I've learned that the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, NewsOne, Complex Magazine, and many other credible sources find the good in Twitter usage by the black community, but I wonder how it negatively impacts us and why we think social media is even important to begin with. I have a theory, and I think that what makes Twitter and now Instagram so popular in the black community is the presence and evolution of Hip Hop. As much as I hate to admit it, Hip Hop has began to shape the way that black people integrate into American culture. Hip Hop and its crossover appeal, to a certain extent, helped to put President Barack Obama in office. The power of Hip Hop and its increasing popularity has given more young people things to talk about and people to share. I believe what has made Black Twitter so strong is that young blacks have used social media to help get the music artists they want to hear, famous. Famous artists like Drake, Nicki Minaj, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar gained increasing popularity and notoriety from pure buzz on the internet. Once African Americans started to realize the power that social media had to get their favorite artists on the radio, the black community on social media sites took on a mind of its own.
Twitter is a quick way to get ideas across and over the last few years, #BlackTwitter has shaped popular culture into something that the whole world is talking about. Though it seems as though #BlackTwitter is full of good ideas and is all positive, I'd like to suggest that it may hurt us more than it helps us. Twitter, in a way, sways you to think the same as everyone else. The social media site has a bandwagon appeal. If one person is talking about something, especially a popular person, then everyone else will follow suite. With my interviews this weekend, I hope to push my interviewees to look at #BlackTwitter holistically and weigh the pros and the cons. Are we romanticizing the idea that the Black community on twitter is an avenue that will make the race stronger, or is it merely just a façade to hide how simple minded this generation can be?
As I've been doing research online about Black Twitter, I began to notice that I'm not the only person who's intrigued by the success of Black social media users. Many online news sites have cited #BlackTwitter as a guiding point that is helping to shape culture and pushing to a more racially acceptable world. Social media has taken the black community by storm and has brought to light many injustices that are done to blacks across the country today. I think that what makes #BlackTwitter and black social media users so powerful is that it is creating a safe haven and a platform for the black community to support each other despite geography and economic situations.
While doing research I've learned that the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, NewsOne, Complex Magazine, and many other credible sources find the good in Twitter usage by the black community, but I wonder how it negatively impacts us and why we think social media is even important to begin with. I have a theory, and I think that what makes Twitter and now Instagram so popular in the black community is the presence and evolution of Hip Hop. As much as I hate to admit it, Hip Hop has began to shape the way that black people integrate into American culture. Hip Hop and its crossover appeal, to a certain extent, helped to put President Barack Obama in office. The power of Hip Hop and its increasing popularity has given more young people things to talk about and people to share. I believe what has made Black Twitter so strong is that young blacks have used social media to help get the music artists they want to hear, famous. Famous artists like Drake, Nicki Minaj, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar gained increasing popularity and notoriety from pure buzz on the internet. Once African Americans started to realize the power that social media had to get their favorite artists on the radio, the black community on social media sites took on a mind of its own.
Twitter is a quick way to get ideas across and over the last few years, #BlackTwitter has shaped popular culture into something that the whole world is talking about. Though it seems as though #BlackTwitter is full of good ideas and is all positive, I'd like to suggest that it may hurt us more than it helps us. Twitter, in a way, sways you to think the same as everyone else. The social media site has a bandwagon appeal. If one person is talking about something, especially a popular person, then everyone else will follow suite. With my interviews this weekend, I hope to push my interviewees to look at #BlackTwitter holistically and weigh the pros and the cons. Are we romanticizing the idea that the Black community on twitter is an avenue that will make the race stronger, or is it merely just a façade to hide how simple minded this generation can be?