Black + Twitter: A Cultural Informatics Approach

Опубликовано 18 августа 2016, 19:02

Chris Sacca, activist investor, recently argued that Twitter IS Black Twitter. African American usage of the service often dominates user metrics in the United States, despite their minority demographic status among computer users. This talk unpacks Black Twitter use from two perspectives: analysis of the interface and associated practice alongside discourse analysis of Twitter's utility and audience. Using examples of Black Twitter practice, I offer that Twitter's feature set and ubiquity map closely onto Black discursive identity. Thus, Twitter's outsized function as mechanism for cultural critique and political activism can be understood as the awakening of Black digital practice and an abridging of a digital divide.