In 2006 a social media platform called Twitter was founded which served as a place for writing bite-size thoughts or comments within a few characters online called “tweets” with only a handful of users. However, it wasn’t until 2012 that twitter really took off with over 100 million users and 340 million tweets sent per day.
Fast forward a few more years and twitter has become a go-to platform for people all across the world ranging from journalists, actors, companies and even politicians using it to voice their opinions.
Within the twitter-sphere, there is an area where fashion trends are created, viral memes generated and many new discoveries and voices heard and that area is called “black twitter” (which I’ll shorten by saying BT).
Twitter was created for no specific demographic in mind but like any social media platform with a huge user base, various communities carve out their own groups to share views and opinions and without a shadow of a doubt
one of the most prominent and powerful in the past decade is black twitter.
But what exactly is black twitter? And how does it differ from just regular twitter? Well, a hint is in the word “black” which means it’s twitter driven mainly by black people however, it’s not exclusively for black people. In this article, I’ll be diving into what exactly this area of twitter is and how it impacts the whole twitter space.
What does Black twitter look like?
For a start, it doesn’t have any special features or technical differences that make it unique compared to other areas on twitter.
Secondly, the content on black twitter varies but for the most part, its full of memes, funny videos, and discussion points that are important in the black community and beyond. If you have not seen black twitter before here is a screenshot of my TL as a privileged member of the community.
Finally, scrolling through BT one thing you definitely won’t likely see is someone tweeting (not to get too political here);
“I love Donald Trump and what his party stands for” that’s like a straight red card and that person will have the wrath of black twitter descend on them. Even though there are black people who support Trump (which is their own right to do so) their TL would probably not be BT looking but rather more to the right politically venturing into the world of people tweeting stuff like “We need more real Americans working in America not foreigners” (whatever that means).
Another thing you’ll notice is the frequent use of a particular word —
“The N-word is prominent in black twitter and being part of black twitter doesn’t automatically give the pass to anyone who otherwise isn’t black to say it”.
It’s just something that you’ll notice, and you have to get used to it being tweeted but not in any racial way like it was historically and sad to say still currently used, but in a way to refer to any and everybody regardless if they are black or not.
How does one get into Black twitter?
This a good question to ask, as unlike other social media platforms where if you want to join a community you have to be invited or send a request, there really aren’t any special invites sent for you to join black twitter.
Rather it is something that you enter yourself, by simply following black people online and engaging. Now it’s easy to say just follow any black person and voila! you’re now a member of BT…nope! Instead try to follow people who have views that most black people share i.e around political standpoints, music, television shows, racism and discrimination of any kind, etc.
It’s kinda safe to say that if you’re black you automatically become part of BT but this isn’t always the case as there are black people who probably won’t be part of BT just based around the people they follow online and the sort of content they indulge in or support.
Examples are Rihanna the US singer who is part of the black twitter community and John Barnes a former English footballer who probably is not part of black twitter despite both being black.
How black twitter impacts the world?
In April 2017, Pepsi the company was forced to remove an ad featuring Kendell Jenner after serious backlash from black twitter and pretty much anyone with eyes as to what was being portrayed. That clearly undermined the police brutality African Americans face with police opposition during rallies and protests.
Another example but in the opposite motion is a French street dancer named Salif Crookboyz who became a viral dance sensation overnight (through black twitter pages and individuals). Receiving thousands of retweets and even being compared to the late and great Micheal Jackson for his moonwalking abilities.
His career was turbocharged by the impact of black twitter leading to worldwide recognition and being invited for various interviews to even appearing on the Ellen DeGeneres show in the US.
Finally, the influence of BT is noticeable in new words being created and adopted in everyday language, a popular example is “(on) fleek” which translates to “on point” created by Kayla Newman a young woman from the US.
Conclusion
The one thing about black twitter which stands out is the open-door policy in the sense that as mentioned above you’re not required to fill any forms or send any requests but instead kind of just let yourself into the community. However, like any community you enter, there are sets of rules one must abide by and being racist, homophobic or coming at Beyonce just can’t sit well with black twitter.
Research on the subject black twitter and a book is being written by Meredith.D Clark, also Naria Willis has shed light on the area. One thing is for certain… twitter would be nowhere near as popular or Litt (another new word which means fun) as it is now without black twitter.
