page_title: Black Twitter
section_title: Influence
hierarchical_section_title: Black Twitter / Influence
caption_attribution_description: English: Black people protest&#160;
context_page_description: Black Twitter is an online subculture largely consisting of black users on the social network Twitter focused on issues of interest to the black community, particularly in the United States. Feminista Jones described it in Salon as "a collective of active, primarily African-American Twitter users who have created a virtual community ... [and are] proving adept at bringing about a wide range of sociopolitical changes." A similar Black Twitter community grew in South Africa in the early 2010s. Although Black Twitter has a strong Black American user base, other people and groups are able to be a part of this social media circle through commonalities in shared experiences and reactions to such online. Calling out cultural appropriation was a chief focus of the space in the early 2010s.
context_section_description: Having been the topic of a 2012 SXSW Interactive panel led by Kimberly Ellis, Black Twitter came to wider public attention in July 2013, when it was credited with having stopped a book deal between a Seattle literary agent and one of the jurors in the trial of George Zimmerman. Zimmerman – who had only been arrested and charged after a large-scale social media campaign including petitions circulated on Twitter that attracted millions of signatures – was controversially acquitted that month of charges stemming from the February 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager in Florida. Black Twitter's swift response to the juror's proposed book, spearheaded by Twitter user Genie Lauren (@MoreAndAgain), who launched a change.org petition, resulted in coverage on CNN.
  The community was also involved in June 2013 in protesting to companies selling products by Paula Deen, the celebrity chef, after she was accused of racism, reportedly resulting in the loss of millions of dollars' worth of business. A #paulasbestdishes hashtag game started by writer and humorist Tracy Clayton (@brokeymcpoverty) went viral.
  In August 2013, outrage on Black Twitter over a Harriet Tubman "sex parody" video Russell Simmons had posted on his Def Comedy Jam website persuaded Simmons to remove the video; he apologized for his error in judgment.
  Another example of Black Twitter influence occurred in May 2018 after Ambien maker Sanofi Aventis responded to Roseanne Barr, who blamed the sedative for the racist tweet she posted that resulted in the cancellation of her TV show, Rosanne.  Barr explained that she was "ambien tweeting" when she compared former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to the "spawn" of "Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes."   Sanofi responded: "People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world. While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication."  In response to Twitter chatter and criticism, Barr was killed off Roseanne via an opioid overdose. The show was renamed, The Conners.
  Demonstrating the continued influence of Black Twitter, a 2019 SXSW Education panel, organized by Kennetta Piper, was selected to address the topic, "We Tried to Tell Y’all: Black Twitter as a Source!" Panelists include Meredith Clark, Feminista Jones, Mia Moody-Ramirez and L. Joy Williams. The focus for this panel is about how Black women are creating community and sparking change via social media and digital communities, how Black humor, over the centuries offers insights into the intersections of race, gender and politics, and how Black Twitter should be recognized as a news subculture.
caption: The aftermath of the death of Trayvon Martin brought Black Twitter to wider public attention.
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