All Of It (WNYC) — "The Power of Black Twitter"

Date: August 6, 2024
Host: Alison Stewart
Guest: Jason Parham, Senior Writer at Wired and Producer of "Black Twitter: A People’s History" (Hulu)

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the history, influence, and cultural significance of Black Twitter—a vibrant, dynamic community on the platform once known as Twitter. Host Alison Stewart interviews Jason Parham, whose Wired article "A People's History of Black Twitter" was adapted into the Hulu docu-series "Black Twitter: A People’s History." Together, they explore Black Twitter’s origins, key moments, its power to shape discourse, and the evolving challenges posed by platform changes and the rise of new social media.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Origins & Early Days of Black Twitter

• Jason’s Introduction to Twitter:
  • Jason began using Twitter around 2008 during grad school, seeking community and connection during the "honeymoon years" of Obama.
    • "Millennials didn’t have jobs coming out of the recession, but we were looking for connection and Twitter was the place to do that for us." [03:16]
• Foundational Viral Moments:
  • The viral hashtag “#YouKnowYoureBlackWhen” in September 2009, started by Ashley Weatherspoon, marked a pivotal moment. Nearly 2% of all Twitter traffic centered on it, as Black users riffed and played on culturally specific experiences.
    • "Black people sort of riffing on, you know, you're black when... which I think was innate to black users." [04:08]
• Atmosphere and Identity Formation:
  • The early years were described as the "Wild, Wild West Days," a time when users experimented with identity, found community, and engaged in genuine conversation—often likened to the feeling of being on a college campus quad.
    • "Twitter was very immediate but also intimate... People were just showing up as their true selves in those first early years." [05:29]

2. Three Eras of Black Twitter (per Jason’s Article and Series)

• Coming Together (2008–2012):
  • Formation of community, organic engagement, hashtags like "Twitter After Dark."
• Rising Up (2012–2016):
  • Period of increased political and social activism, catalyzed by Trayvon Martin’s killing and the rise of Black Lives Matter.
    • "This was the sort of transformative moment of Black Twitter... You have an organizer like Janetta LZ, who became a very active voice within the Black Lives Matter movement, posting to her timeline because she felt people should know about these tragedies." [13:52]
• Getting Through (2016 onward):
  • Era marked by resistance, resilience, and adaptation under the Trump presidency and significant social upheavals.

3. Black Twitter and Popular Culture

• Influence on Mainstream Media and Pop Culture:
  • Sparked movements (e.g., #OscarsSoWhite) and cultural moments, influenced television phenomena like "Scandal," where the cast and audience engaged in real-time.
    • "I think it was the idea of this collective watch party... It was one of those activating moments early on that is really defining in a lot of ways to what it became." [08:13]
• Celebrity Rise Through Twitter:
  • Platform for the emergence or amplification of voices like W. Kamau Bell, Roxane Gay, Jemele Hill, Raquel Willis, who gained wider recognition through authentic engagement.

4. Political Activism & Social Change

• Critical Role in Social Movements:
  • Black Twitter’s mobilization around events like Trayvon Martin’s death, Ferguson, and the George Floyd protests changed how the world learned about and discussed these incidents.
    • "Black Twitter is really transformative in changing how we talk about sort of tragedy online and making sure that we can't look away to the issues that matter to us." [14:29]
• #OscarsSoWhite:
  • Created by April Reign, the hashtag pushed the Oscars toward diversity and greater inclusion, inspiring institutional changes.
    • "The Academy... committed to doubling the number of people of color and doubling the number of women within their membership ranks by 2020." [15:28]
    • "I am energized by the fact that we have movies like 'Till,' 'Nope,' and 'Black Panther'..." [16:25]
• Election Season & Kamala Harris:
  • During the 2024 election, Black Twitter (now on 'X') responded with robust, sometimes divided commentary on Kamala Harris’s historic candidacy.
    • "There's a real groundswell and sort of online sort of cheer for her among a lot of Black users... But there are also Black users online saying, hey, I don't know if this is still the right choice for us." [17:55]

5. Community Even as the Platform Changes

• Elon Musk’s Takeover of Twitter (“X”) and Its Impact:
  • Initially, the response was humor (memes about funerals for Twitter), but as staff were laid off—including much of the Black staff and safety teams—concerns about hate speech and abuse increased.
    • "The first initial reaction was let's make a joke out of it... There were a lot of funeral memes. But then it got much more serious..." [10:58]
    • "A lot of the consequence of that is now you see a lot more abuse on the platform... use of the N word was increasing in the days that he followed taking over." [19:28]
• Resilience and Reluctance to Leave:
  • Despite issues, many Black users have been reluctant to fully abandon the community they've built.

6. Challenges: Appropriation & Abuse

• Appropriation of Black Culture and Slang:
  • Black culture is often adopted and repurposed out of context, especially as it becomes more visible.
    • "When blackness is in public view, it's being ripped out of its context. It's taken in ways that we, you know, we no longer have control of." [20:37]
• Rise of Other Platforms (e.g., TikTok):
  • TikTok hasn't replaced Black Twitter’s role, but reflects a new era.
    • "I just think we're in a new era of social media... TikTok is... the future of social media." [21:21]

7. Documenting Black Twitter’s History

• Intent Behind Telling This Story:
  • Jason’s motivation was to preserve Black Twitter’s place in history, especially as contemporary events threaten to erase Black narratives.
    • "We're living in a really dangerous time... I wanted to document this space and think this was an important document of our history... It deserves its place in the history books." [23:02–23:51]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Is it black.twitter.com? Is there a special tweet I send which opens a portal for us muggles to get into the special club?" — Clip from docuseries [01:00]
• "It kind of reminded me a lot of what being on the quad in college felt like." — Jason Parham [05:09]
• "Black Twitter was perfect for the moment that we were in, you know, the 2010s." — Jason Parham [21:21]
• "It's like being in the barber shop. It's like being in all these beautifully complex and rich, layered black spaces. I mean, I think Black Twitter in a lot of ways reflects those places." — Jason Parham [20:28]
• "Black people— not a monolith. How does black Twitter allow us to better understand different perspectives within the black community?... By letting us be who we are online, by not coming with judgment, but by showing up as your true self." — Alison Stewart & Jason Parham [22:54–23:02]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:09] Jason’s first experience with Twitter
• [04:32] Viral hashtags & origins of Black Twitter
• [05:09] Description of Black Twitter’s early community
• [07:49] "Scandal" and Black Twitter as a watch party
• [10:35] Frederick (Brooklyn caller) asks about the Elon Musk takeover
• [12:29] Trayvon Martin, Ferguson, and the activist turn
• [15:28] Creation and impact of #OscarsSoWhite
• [17:55] Black Twitter’s reactions to Kamala Harris’s political rise
• [19:28] The positives and negatives of Black Twitter's visibility
• [20:37] Appropriation and co-opting Black culture online
• [21:21] Rise of TikTok and shifting cultural attention
• [22:02] Adapting the Wired article into a Hulu docuseries
• [23:02] On the historical importance of chronicling Black Twitter

Conclusion

This episode paints a detailed, nuanced picture of Black Twitter: how it emerged as an influential community, harnessed its voice for activism and humor, shaped culture online and offline, and now faces new challenges with evolving technology and corporate stewardship. Jason Parham and Alison Stewart underscore the importance of keeping such stories alive—as Black Twitter is both a history and a living, adapting entity.

For further exploration:

• Black Twitter: A People’s History — Hulu Series
• Jason Parham’s 2021 Wired article, "A People’s History of Black Twitter"