André Brock Jr.
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479820375
- eISBN:
- 9781479811908
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479820375.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This chapter argues that Twitter can be properly understood as an online venue for shared pathos and catharsis, due in large part to the contributions of Black culture and cultural content. By ...
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This chapter argues that Twitter can be properly understood as an online venue for shared pathos and catharsis, due in large part to the contributions of Black culture and cultural content. By focusing on the banal and everyday commentary that originally raised Black Twitter to national prominence, this chapter provides insights into Black Twitter as a political and cultural force. This chapter deconstructs arguments for Twitter as a broadcast network, as an information provider, and as a news source by profiling Black Twitter as an example of how a closely knit community—culturally isolated and socially segregated—can easily parlay its communitarian ethos and discursive identity into social network practice.Less
This chapter argues that Twitter can be properly understood as an online venue for shared pathos and catharsis, due in large part to the contributions of Black culture and cultural content. By focusing on the banal and everyday commentary that originally raised Black Twitter to national prominence, this chapter provides insights into Black Twitter as a political and cultural force. This chapter deconstructs arguments for Twitter as a broadcast network, as an information provider, and as a news source by profiling Black Twitter as an example of how a closely knit community—culturally isolated and socially segregated—can easily parlay its communitarian ethos and discursive identity into social network practice.
Patricia A. Matthew
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781469627717
- eISBN:
- 9781469627731
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469627717.003.0014
- Subject:
- Education, History of Education
The anthology concludes by looking forward and considering how social media, especially Twitter, is shaping how faculty of color manage their careers. It discusses the possibilities and risks of ...
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The anthology concludes by looking forward and considering how social media, especially Twitter, is shaping how faculty of color manage their careers. It discusses the possibilities and risks of engaging with complicated ideas and taking on the work of activism outside of academia while in full view of those who evaluate our work. With a mix of cautionary tales and strategies for success the chapter focuses on the challenges black women academics face on social media as they are targeted by right-wing student groups It also discuses how social media has shaped and influenced the career opportunities of then doctoral candidate Tressie McMillan Cottom.Less
The anthology concludes by looking forward and considering how social media, especially Twitter, is shaping how faculty of color manage their careers. It discusses the possibilities and risks of engaging with complicated ideas and taking on the work of activism outside of academia while in full view of those who evaluate our work. With a mix of cautionary tales and strategies for success the chapter focuses on the challenges black women academics face on social media as they are targeted by right-wing student groups It also discuses how social media has shaped and influenced the career opportunities of then doctoral candidate Tressie McMillan Cottom.
Allissa V. Richardson
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- June 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190935528
- eISBN:
- 9780190935566
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190935528.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
Chapter 1 outlines the book’s concept of black witnessing by giving it three characteristics: it (1) assumes an investigative editorial stance to advocate for African American civil rights; (2) ...
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Chapter 1 outlines the book’s concept of black witnessing by giving it three characteristics: it (1) assumes an investigative editorial stance to advocate for African American civil rights; (2) co-opts racialized online spaces to serve as its ad-hoc news distribution service; and (3) relies on interlocking black public spheres, which are endowed with varying levels of political agency, to engage diverse audiences.Less
Chapter 1 outlines the book’s concept of black witnessing by giving it three characteristics: it (1) assumes an investigative editorial stance to advocate for African American civil rights; (2) co-opts racialized online spaces to serve as its ad-hoc news distribution service; and (3) relies on interlocking black public spheres, which are endowed with varying levels of political agency, to engage diverse audiences.
Sarah Florini
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479892464
- eISBN:
- 9781479807185
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479892464.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
In a culture dominated by discourses of “colorblindness” but still rife with structural racism, digital and social media have become a resource for Black Americans navigating a society that ...
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In a culture dominated by discourses of “colorblindness” but still rife with structural racism, digital and social media have become a resource for Black Americans navigating a society that simultaneously perpetuates and obscures racial inequality. Though the Ferguson protests made such Black digital networks more broadly visible, these networks did not coalesce in that moment. They were built over the course of years through much less spectacular, though no less important, everyday use, including mundane social exchanges, humor, and fandom. This book explores these everyday practices and their relationship to larger social issues through an in-depth analysis of a network of Black American digital media users and content creators. These digital networks are used not only to cope with and challenge day-to-day experiences of racism, but also as an incubator for the discourses that have since exploded onto the national stage. This book tells the story of an influential subsection of these Black digital networks, including many Black amateur podcasts, the independent media company This Week in Blackness (TWiB!), and the network of Twitter users that has come to be known as “Black Twitter.” Grounded in her active participation in this network and close ethnographic collaboration with TWiB!, Sarah Florini argues that the multimedia, transplatform nature of this network makes it a flexible resource that can then be deployed for a variety of purposes—culturally inflected fan practices, community building, cultural critique, and citizen journalism. Florini argues that these digital media practices are an extension of historic traditions of Black cultural production and resistance.Less
In a culture dominated by discourses of “colorblindness” but still rife with structural racism, digital and social media have become a resource for Black Americans navigating a society that simultaneously perpetuates and obscures racial inequality. Though the Ferguson protests made such Black digital networks more broadly visible, these networks did not coalesce in that moment. They were built over the course of years through much less spectacular, though no less important, everyday use, including mundane social exchanges, humor, and fandom. This book explores these everyday practices and their relationship to larger social issues through an in-depth analysis of a network of Black American digital media users and content creators. These digital networks are used not only to cope with and challenge day-to-day experiences of racism, but also as an incubator for the discourses that have since exploded onto the national stage. This book tells the story of an influential subsection of these Black digital networks, including many Black amateur podcasts, the independent media company This Week in Blackness (TWiB!), and the network of Twitter users that has come to be known as “Black Twitter.” Grounded in her active participation in this network and close ethnographic collaboration with TWiB!, Sarah Florini argues that the multimedia, transplatform nature of this network makes it a flexible resource that can then be deployed for a variety of purposes—culturally inflected fan practices, community building, cultural critique, and citizen journalism. Florini argues that these digital media practices are an extension of historic traditions of Black cultural production and resistance.
