{"id":519490,"date":"2022-12-02T00:47:55","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T21:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/black-twitter-shaped-the-platform-but-its-future-lies-elsewhere\/"},"modified":"2022-12-02T00:47:55","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T21:47:55","slug":"black-twitter-shaped-the-platform-but-its-future-lies-elsewhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/black-twitter-shaped-the-platform-but-its-future-lies-elsewhere\/","title":{"rendered":"#Black Twitter shaped the platform, but its future lies elsewhere"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2fbb480b533\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2fbb480b533\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/black-twitter-shaped-the-platform-but-its-future-lies-elsewhere\/#%E2%80%9CBlack_Twitter_shaped_the_platform_but_its_future_lies_elsewhere%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Black Twitter shaped the platform, but its future lies elsewhere&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CBlack_Twitter_shaped_the_platform_but_its_future_lies_elsewhere%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Black Twitter shaped the platform, but its future lies elsewhere&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2022\/twitter-9.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2022\/twitter-9.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Credit: Pixabay\/CC0 Public Domain\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2022\/twitter-9.jpg\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Credit: Pixabay\/CC0 Public Domain\" width=\"800\" height=\"410\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                Credit: Pixabay\/CC0 Public Domain<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>From <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/2056305120981047\">cartoon memes<\/a> to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2019\/dec\/23\/ten-years-black-twitter-watchdog\">cancel culture<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/repository.upenn.edu\/asc_papers\/472\/\">hashtag activism<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/2022\/08\/17\/black-english-misidentified-internet-slang\/\">&#8220;new&#8221; languages<\/a>, it&#8217;s undeniable that Black <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> has shaped much of today&#8217;s internet culture.<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                &#8220;Black Twitter&#8221; describes a digital gathering of culturally connected Black people who use Twitter to discuss matters related to Black communities. These cultural conversations and inside jokes have resulted in new trends, digital behavior and changes in the platform&#8217;s digital tools.<\/p>\n<p>Elon Musk&#8217;s controversial ownership has led some to wonder\u2014what h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ens to Black Twitter now, and where will it go?<\/p>\n<p>These questions mourn the loss of a digital culture that has defined the platform over the past decade, but they also perpetuate the idea that the Black Twitter community is a singular entity, incapable of the kind of shapeshifting and remixing that has been central to its existence.<\/p>\n<p>Though some of Black Twitter&#8217;s practices are often misunderstood to have originated on the social media platform, they are not new. They have histories in Black creative, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/1527476413480247\">linguistic<\/a>, and technological cultures. For example, cancel culture <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/2057047320961562\">performed on Black Twitter<\/a> has roots in Black accountability practices and oral traditions, though it has now been appropriated. <\/p>\n<p>These Black cultural and linguistic practices are not exclusive to Twitter. Twitter simply offers a digital space where these practices are exposed to people who were previously unfamiliar with them. <\/p>\n<p>Similar Black cultural practices have also emerged on <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full\/10.1177\/2056305116683205\">other social networking platforms<\/a> that existed <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.co.uk\/books\/edition\/Digital_Diaspora\/AXeVtj_i_OgC?hl=en&amp;gbpv=0\">long before<\/a> the emergence of Twitter in 2006, and so they certainly won&#8217;t disappear in light of Musk&#8217;s US$44 billion (\u00a338 billion) buyout. <\/p>\n<p>  <b>The Black cultural impact on the Twittersphere<\/b>  <\/p>\n<p>Besides its cultural impact, Black Twitter has also had technological impacts on the platform.<\/p>\n<p>In <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=FwaCDwAAQBAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=reclaiming+our+space+feminista+jones&amp;hl=en&amp;newbks=1&amp;newbks_redir=1&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwigpMa1hbP7AhWGIMAKHQ2xAUwQ6AF6BAgIEAI\">Reclaiming Our Space<\/a>, Feminista Jones explores how Black women&#8217;s creative use of the app led to changes in the platform&#8217;s design. &#8220;Over the years,&#8221; she writes, &#8220;Black women have continued to tinker with Twitter as a platform, creating ways to communicate that are more in line with our norms. In response, Twitter has adapted its platform to how we tweet, from creating the current mechanism for threading to incorporating gifs in tweet options.&#8221;<br \/>\n                                            <!-- Google middle Adsense block --><\/p>\n<p>The technological and cultural impact of Black Twitter doesn&#8217;t stop there. In her essay <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/modelviewculture.com\/pieces\/the-blackness-of-meme-movement\">The Blackness of Meme Movement<\/a>, Lauren Michele Jackson argues that popular meme culture is directly linked to Black language and expressive cultures. Their usage embodies Black cultural experiences and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/2019\/12\/white-negroes-author-lauren-michele-jackson-q-and-a.html\">are shaped by them<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As Black folk shaped the platform (and culture) through digital play and communication, Twitter quickly became an incubator for Black cultural production. This caught the eyes of media and cultural industries who altered their marketing strategies after they noticed the profitability of Black Twitter&#8217;s &#8220;coolness&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Memes, for example, quickly became an opportunity to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gal-dem.com\/in-memes-we-trust\/\">increase the revenue of hip-hop music<\/a>. Another example is live-tweeting, when Black Twitter gathers to respond in real-time to TV shows, such as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.refinery29.com\/en-gb\/black-twitter-love-island-commentators-to-follow\">Love Island<\/a>, and offer comedic and political commentary on race, society and culture. Industries recognized the viewership this practice brought, and have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www-jstor-org.nottingham.idm.oclc.org\/stable\/24803012?sid=primo\">changed how they market media and engage audiences<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>  <b>Twitter as a space for anti-Black digital harm<\/b>  <\/p>\n<p>Black experiences on Twitter aren&#8217;t always enjoyable. Twitter was <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gal-dem.com\/black-mental-health-needs-protecting-online-heres-how-you-can-help\/\">never a haven for Black people<\/a> on the internet.<\/p>\n<p>The hyper-visibility of Blackness, Black cultures and Black expressions have become a digital currency resulting in <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theindy.org\/article\/2636\">cultural appropriation<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/i-d.vice.com\/en\/article\/nepzyg\/white-girls-instagram-blackface-blackfishing\">blackfishing<\/a> (in which non-Black people use makeup, cosmetic surgery or digital editing to flirt with the appearance of Blackness) and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full\/10.1177\/1527476420983745\">digital blackface<\/a> (<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.teenvogue.com\/story\/digital-blackface-reaction-gifs\">the use of visual depictions of Black people<\/a> such as gifs, emojis, and memes as a form of self-expression by non-Black people). <\/p>\n<p>Outsider surveillance has meant that Black Twitter has become a resource for <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/2057047320961562\">misappropriation<\/a> and creative theft, including when journalists mine Black Twitter to write articles and &#8220;discover&#8221; new trends, preventing Black creators from making money from their cultural production.<\/p>\n<p>The lack of adequate regulation on Twitter also means that the threat of anti-Black abuse is amplified. This particularly affects those at the margin of the margins, such as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decoders.amnesty.org\/projects\/troll-patrol\/findings\">Black women<\/a>, queer people and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/jamiewareham\/2019\/11\/25\/one-year-since-twitters-transphobia-ban--that-is-failing-trans-people\/?sh=4c199b2e20f8\">trans people<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Many former contributors to Black Twitter have already left the app\u2014often platforms that they have spent significant time building\u2014and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9EW4wVYQBe\">more will continue to do so<\/a>. For all its greatness, Black Twitter is not a digital utopia, and many people have been deeply affected by the threat of harm on the platform, resulting in <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.co.uk\/books\/edition\/Misogynoir_Transformed\/E30DEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=0\">powerful engagements of digital resistance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>  <b>How will Black Twitter go?<\/b>  <\/p>\n<p>Instead of asking, &#8220;What happens to Black Twitter now?&#8221;, I find it useful to ask, &#8220;How will Black Twitter go?&#8221;. Asking this acknowledges that there is a method to Black digital life\u2014it is continuously being created and redefined. It also locates &#8220;Black Twitter&#8221; with the people and culture who carry it, and not only with the platform they inhabit.<\/p>\n<p>While we collectively mourn the loss of a digital space that has represented culture, laughter, community and resistance, we need to remember that the platform has still perpetuated and circulated harm. Twitter cannot be the center of all Black digital life. We must dream of better.<\/p>\n<p>And so, &#8220;Black Twitter&#8221; will go as it always has done, in a fashion of cultural innovation, with our shared memories, collective archives and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thegrio.com\/2022\/11\/03\/elon-musks-purchase-is-not-black-twitters-problem\/\">hopes for a better future<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Such is life on the internet. Social media and websites can disappear at any time. But if we must take one lesson, it is that while Twitter didn&#8217;t create Black Twitter, Black Twitter certainly defined and shaped Twitter.<\/p>\n<div class=\"d-inline-block text-medium my-4\">\n                                                Provided by<br \/>\n                                                                                                    The Conversation<br \/>\n                                                                                                        <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"icon_open\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\"><br \/>\n                                                        <svg><use href=\"https:\/\/techx.b-cdn.net\/tmpl\/v2\/img\/svg\/sprite.svg#icon_open\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\"\/><\/svg><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"article-main__note mt-4\">\n                                                This article is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/black-twitter-shaped-the-platform-but-its-future-lies-elsewhere-194950\">original article<\/a>.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/194950\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                                        <!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>                                                 <strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n                                                 Black Twitter shaped the platform, but its future lies elsewhere (2022, December  1)<br \/>\n                                                 retrieved  1 December 2022<br \/>\n                                                 from https:\/\/techxplore.com\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>\/2022-12-black-twitter-platform-future.html<\/p>\n<p>                                            This document is subject to copyright. 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