- Black Twitter is a social media movement that has influenced media, film, politics and society over the past two decades.
- Over time, Black creators helped make Black Twitter a cultural phenomenon. A 2024 Hulu docuseries by filmmaker Prentice Penny captures this movement.
- While the platform has been rebranded, the legacy of Black Twitter will live on. This celebration of Black culture changed lives and opinions in the process.
Table of Contents
Over the last few decades, social media has become a source of connection for people. Social media helps people to come together, amplify their voices and share their unique perspectives and stories. Black Twitter is a great example of this. Not only has it sparked social movements, it has sparked humor and connection.
Ahead, we discuss what Black Twitter is, provide some historical context and share why Black Twitter is important. We also share some examples of viral memes and voices of Black Twitter. Lastly, we highlight the docuseries that documents this celebration of Black culture.
What Is Black Twitter?
Black Twitter is a social media movement that started in the early 2000s. To clarify terms, Twitter was the platform now known as X. Since the early 2000s, Black Twitter has expanded into documentary series, feature films and university courses. There is no Black Twitter app. It is not a different platform and does not refer to a specific account or type of content. Rather, it represents the collection of content from Black creators on Twitter. Black Twitter celebrates Black voices coming together on the platform to share their experiences. Their posts may include humorous memes, their thoughts on Black culture or important topics like racial equity.
Viral memes like Michael Jordan crying and Steve Harvey laughing have become part of popular culture thanks to the power of Black Twitter. However, humor was not the only feature that came from this movement. Hashtags, which began as a way to improve search results on the platform, gave way to powerful protests to end system racism. People have used Black Twitter to address important social issues that impact underrepresented communities. By using hashtags as rallying cries, they have made a significant impact and have changed lives.
The History of Black Twitter
In 2021, writer Jason Parham linked the rise of Black voices on the platform to the ideas of Amiri Baraka, a Black American writer. In the 1970s, Baraka predicted that Black Americans would use technology to amplify their voices. He believed that they would drive progress for underrepresented communities forward through innovation.
Decades later, during the tech boom of the early 2000s, digital platforms began to pop up on the web. However, content about Black culture on early social media platforms was scant. Facebook catered to university students and became the first platform to find success.
Early on, Black content creators expressed their opinions on Twitter. As the platform grew, so did Black Twitter. By the 2010s, the movement grew beyond social media and became a part of the cultural zeitgeist. And in 2020, it became the voice of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd.
In 2022, businessman Elon Musk bought Twitter and renamed it “X” the following year. This change made people question the future of Black Twitter. With creators losing interest in the platform, people may move to a new digital space. While the branding has changed, the impact of Black Twitter is still being studied and documented in other ways.
Why Is Black Twitter Important?
Black Twitter is important because it celebrates the best of Black culture online. It provides a powerful digital platform for movement leaders to connect with other Black Americans. Black Twitter threads may only trend for a short period, but the impact of this content is powerful.
Meredith Clark has set out to document this phenomenon. She is an associate professor and the founding director of the Center for Communication, Media Innovation and Social Change at Northeastern. In 2023, Clark told NPR the following:
“It is impossible to collect the whole of Black Twitter or even to attempt to distill the essence of Black Twitter. So what we are going to have is a collection of what are called small histories. And they are parts and pieces of what has happened in this place and time, but they are not the end-all-be-all of Black Twitter. And so it is a very delicate balance of not essentializing what we know of this experience, but also making sure that it is accurately preserved for the record.”
Some of the Best of Black Twitter
To discover the best Black Twitter accounts, you can start by following some of the most powerful Black voices in media. These creators have made Black Twitter the cultural phenomenon it is today:
- @The_A_Prentice – Prentice Penny is best known as the showrunner of the hit show Insecure. He is also the filmmaker behind the Hulu Docuseries “Black Twitter: A People’s History.”
- @meredithdclark – Dr. Meredith Clark is an associate professor of journalism and communication studies at Northeastern University. Clark is also the author of “We Tried to Tell Y’All: Black Twitter and the Rise of Digital Counternarratives.”
- @nonlinearnotes – Jason Parham published an oral history of Black Twitter in 2021 after documenting the rise of the social media movement for Wired Magazine.
- @jemelehill – Jemele Hill is a contributing writer for The Atlantic and an Emmy Award-winning sports journalist, author and podcaster.
- @wkamaubell – W. Kamau Bell is a stand-up comic and filmmaker, best known as the host of the five-time Emmy Award-winning CNN docuseries United Shades of America.
- @roxanegay7 – Roxane Gay is the New York Times bestselling author of “Bad Feminist.”
- @HenryLouisGates – Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the director of Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. He is also the executive producer of Black History in Two Minutes (or so).
- @VanJones68 – CNN host Van Jones is a three-time New York Times bestselling author and an advocate for criminal justice reform.
- @IAmSteveHarvey – Steve Harvey is an Emmy Award-winning entertainer, New York Times best-selling author, businessman and philanthropist.
Black Twitter Docuseries
“What is the story of Black Twitter going to be in 50 years or 100 years, right? Will the platform even be here?” asked filmmaker Prentice Penny before he set out to document this story in the three-part “Black Twitter: A People’s History” docuseries. The series features many of the Black voices mentioned above, along with the memes that became synonymous with Black Twitter. It also shows how this influential digital community changed the narrative about racial equity.
Celebrating Black Culture
The prominence of Black Twitter is something that should be celebrated, even if the platform no longer bears the same name. The impact these creators have made on society will live on through the next generation of movement leaders.
Follow Robert F. Smith on LinkedIn and X for more content celebrating Black American culture.
