Black Twitter as a Counterpublic

I recently logged into my side Twitter account and composed a tweet that read: “The black American urge to call anyone, any ol body, you connect deeply with ‘my nigga’.” This tweet was articulated in response to a trend on Twitter where users shared scenarios which reflect culturally relevant social behaviors that manifest without explanation, yet are shared across a community. While I am not aware of how the trend was spread across the Twittersphere, I know the Twitter algorithm brought it to my attention because a few people who I follow interacted with it by retweeting or sharing their own tweets responding to the trend.

These mutuals were a few black women artists and an academic. I have never met the women in person. Though I do share a mutual friend with one, and I have attended multiple professional zoom seminars with the academic. Yet, this connectivity through Twitter, one that exists solely online, is a community. Those who engage in it while living black in America, or stumble into it as a result of the Twitter algorithm, know it as “Black Twitter”.

A community is defined as a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. It is also defined as a feeling of fellowship with others as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. While both of these definitions are applicable to the notion of Twitter as a community space, the latter formatively highlights the sense of fellowship that exists on Black Twitter in particular. “The notion of “community” has often been caught between concrete social relationships and imagined sets of people perceived to be similar,” Anatoliy Gruzd, Barry Wellman, and Yuri Takhteyev posit in their research article “Imagining Twitter as an Imagined Community”.

“The rise of the Internet has refocused our attention on this ongoing tension. The Internet has enabled people who know each other to use social media, from e-mail to Facebook, to interact without meeting physically. Into this mix came Twitter, an asymmetric microblogging service: If you follow me, I do not have to follow you. This means that connections on Twitter depend less on in-person contact, as many users have more followers than they know. Yet there is a possibility that Twitter can form the basis of interlinked personal communities — and even of a sense of community. This analysis of one person’s Twitter network shows that it is the basis for a real community, even though Twitter was not designed to support the development of online communities.” (Gruzd/Wellman/Takhteyev, 2011).

Social media has generated a multitude of online communities. In the past ten years, we’ve witnessed individuals form allegiances with, and even develop personalities, based on the various social media platforms they subscribe to. This has cultivated a microcosm of online communities within the numerous social media apps. These communal spaces present an opportunity for individuals to entertain themselves, engage in dialogue with countless strangers, and generate discourse that is conducive to both informing their identity and affirming their lived experiences. From Twitter, and specifically Black Twitter, I have been able to experience all of the previously mentioned.

“The public sphere” is a term coined by Jurgen Habermas in his work “The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere”. It refers to “an inclusive discursive space in which the citizens of society gathered, discussed, and debated over the issues of the day” (Habermas, 1992). In Habermas’ era, these public spheres were coffee houses, libraries, public parks, salons, or bars. Counterpublics is a term alluded to by many scholars and contemporaries of Habermas. It was contextually enhanced by Nancy Fraser who referenced them as “parallel discursive arenas where members of subordinated social groups invent and circulate counter discourses to formulate oppositional interpretations of their identities, interests, and needs” (Fraser, 1990).

Black Twitter is the genesis for a majority of Twitter’s viral content and language. The contributions of the black community to Twitter mirrors its contributions to contemporary culture as a whole. Its influences are ingrained in all mediums, avenues, and forms of communication and expression. Simultaneously, Black Twitter functions as its own community within the larger platform that is Twitter. To participate within Black Twitter from an informed perspective requires organic and active engagement within the realms of humorist and political discourse particular to the black community, as well as other marginalized and oppressed communities of color.

In the research article “The Content of Our #Characters: Black Twitter as Counterpublic” Roderick Graham and Shawn Smith reference Nancy Fraser by stating: “Fraser argued that the bourgeois public sphere was not inclusive and was primarily a space for the dominant groups. As such, the views of subordinated groups, such as racial and religious minorities, were not being represented when public issues were being deliberated. As a result, “members of subordinated social groups — women, workers, peoples of color, and gays and lesbians — had repeatedly found it advantageous to constitute alternative publics.”(Graham/Smith, 2016)

Social media has progressed into an arena where millions of individuals across the globe engage in critical discourse on a daily basis in a similar manner to how conversations were generated in the public sphere. The space on Twitter where the majority of dialogue exists, and where Black Twitter manifests itself most prominently, is within the reply thread of tweets. It is there that users generate dialogue that is parallel to the notion of a public sphere.

Tweets have transcended entertainment and have sparked discourse amongst citizens and politicians alike on sociopolitical issues, and their impact is felt far beyond the confines of the app. An example of this is how Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and her political contemporaries, engage with Twitter and how this generates dialogue amongst their constituents in tweet threads. It is often black, brown, and queer folk, many members of Black Twitter, who are alternatingly critical of and validated by tweets from Ocasio-Cortez and her contemporaries.

In response to the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: “What we are witnessing is a system functioning as designed and protecting those it was defined for. My heart still breaks for the communities and families whose grief now compounds, and the countless others who will be denied and deprived in similar scenes across the country” (Ocasio-Cortez, 2021). While this tweet was an indirect acknowledgement of the ingrained white supremacist and patriarchal practices of the judicial system in the United States, as well as the oppression and discrimination experienced by marginalized communities of color across the country, Ocasio-Cortez received both ridicule and praise from members of Black Twitter in the reply thread.

One user stated they are not surprised by the verdict, but appreciated Ocasio-Cortez for using her platform to address the systemic issues relating to the case. Another user, however, condemned Ocasio-Cortez for not using her platform, and more importantly her position as a legislative member, to directly combat the judicial system she was criticizing. This thread led to dialogue amongst users who expressed frustrations with the verdict as well as with Ocasio-Cortez. One user described in detail the steps required to address this issue as a democratic representative and also shared literature on similar political cases. Another shared links to mutual aid groups supporting those harmed by these instances of marginalization, and others shared links to literature that informed individuals on how they can become directly involved in the politics of their communities.

All of this discourse was found in the reply thread of Ocasio-Cortez’ tweet. From this single tweet anyone who engaged in the reply thread, whether supportive or critical of Ocasio-Cortez’, acquired information on how the judicial system perpetuates systemic oppression at the expense of marginalized communities of color. They were also given literature that can further advance their own understanding of how these issues relate to our political system and their communities. Similar links are often shared in reply threads by members of Black Twitter in an effort to inform, educate, and support each other. What is most encouraging to me is witnessing the camaraderie amongst individuals who not only express shared convictions, as they directly engage with and critique a political figure, but also educate each other on our democratic process while sharing resources.

Rebekah Tromble addresses this phenomenon in the research article “Thanks for (actually) responding! How citizen demand shapes politicians’ interactive practices on Twitter”. “Social media are frequently touted for their potential to strengthen democratic processes by bringing politicians and citizens into dialogue with one another. Social media may enrich the public sphere and improve democratic decision-making by allowing politicians and constituents to discuss matters of political import directly, free from intermediaries” (Tromble, 2016).

I believe the intermediaries referenced by Tromble are corporate media networks who push narratives on constituents that contribute to biases and further polarize the political landscape. Through Twitter, members of marginalized communities can engage directly with politicians, and more effectively with each other, in a manner that may not be accessible to them outside of the app. This online connectivity strengthens their real world communities by generating information avenues through Twitter that are materialized and can be built upon in everyday life.

Twitter has evolved into a platform that generates political discourse which can lead to a revolution, as seen with the Arab Spring. It can also enable discourse that further informs individuals about their identity and autonomy. Marc Lamont Hill addresses the latter in the research article “‘Thank You, Black Twitter’: State Violence, Digital Counterpublics, and Pedagogies of Resistance” “I examine the role of Black Twitter as a ‘digital counterpublic’ that enables critical pedagogy, political organizing, and both symbolic and material forms of resistance to anti-Black state violence within the United States. Focusing primarily on post-Ferguson events, I spotlight the ways that Black people have used Black Twitter and other digital counterpublics to engage in forms of pedagogy that reorganize relations of surveillance, reject rigid respectability politics, and contest the erasure of marginalized groups within the Black community” (Hill, 2018).

Twitter presents its users with the opportunity to engage on the platform with a multitude of intentions. Whether it is solely for humorous entertainment, social or cultural engagement, intellectual stimulation, or a mixture of all three. An example of this from Black Twitter is a tweet from rapper Earl Sweatshirt who exclaimed “decolonize your mind bitch the lines was drawn by europeans they are not real” (Kgositsile, 2021). This single tweet embodies humor, critical race theory, and intellectual stimulation. Within the reply thread of the tweet, there were multiple interpretations of its context.

One user (a black American male made evident by their Twitter avatar) tweeted in response “can someone explain this in simple terms.” Another user responded with their interpretation: “stop defining your success by white standards, break the mold and be your blackest self.” Yet another user (a white passing man made evident by their Twitter avatar) reacted to the original tweet with: “Pretty sure Persian and previous African dynasty’s ruled and dominated and started boundaries first.” In response to that, another user (a black man made evident by their Twitter avatar) responded: “But what culture then became the one to dominate on a global scale through colonialism, who’s influence do we see in our economic system, beauty standards, and structures of power. Is it the ancient Persian empire? Is it the African countries? What dominates now is the point.”

The replies to the original tweet extended beyond the assertion made by Earl Sweatshirt. It generated discourse where a member of the Black Twitter community helped another user comprehend the latent message within the tweet from Earl Sweatshirt. While another member of Black Twitter engaged with a user outside of the community who attempted to challenge the original tweet. These displays of support and camaraderie may seem insignificant to those not familiar with or active on Twitter, but to members of Black Twitter and the black community as a whole this is an example of the essence of how communication is fundamental to educating and empowering individuals. Twitter as a platform has the ability to provide that to all who engage with it.

Symbolic interactionism is defined as a sociological theory that develops from practical considerations and alludes to particular effects of communication and interaction in people to make images and normal implications for deduction and correspondence with others. It assumes our daily interactions formulate how we interpret and engage with the world. This includes all forms of communication, including tweets. In essence, tweets are a form of communication that present stimuli which engages an individual’s intellect and emotions. In the research article “Twitter chats as Third Places: Conceptualizing a Digital Gathering Site”, John McArthur and Ashleigh Farley White posit: “These conduits for information become online meeting places in specific digital locations that provide “an opportunity for would-be members of cultural groups to seek out like-minded individuals” (McArthur, 2009, p. 62).

“These online locations become meeting places in which attachment can be formed among members who self-select into digital communities (Yuqing et al., 2012). In many social media sites, this method of self-selection into digital communities allows groups to emerge, form, and prosper” (McArthur/White, 2016). Black Twitter, while coexisting in the expansive Twittersphere, cultivates and presents engagement for all who interact with it. Whether you engage with Twitter passively or intentionally, you position yourself in community with millions of individuals from around the world. Black Twitter is an online counterpublic that provides a sense of fellowship, cultivates political and social discourse, and generates creative content that supports, empowers, and reflects the black experience.

Reflecting on my years of engagement with Twitter, I am able to acknowledge the ways in which it has directly influenced my relative social morals and political praxis. As well as my lexicon and sense of humor. Twitter has directly connected me with a wide array of personalities who both challenged the notions I held of the systems we exist in, while also connecting me to discourse that enabled me to explore these queries further. It has supported my personal growth by validating my critical and intellectual insights, as well as contributing to my sense of humor through genuine expressions of black, queer, and radical identities. While Twitter isn’t the sole source of this enlightenment, because it is after all the lived experiences of those who engage on Twitter that cultivate the Black Twitter community, Twitter serves as a tool that is utilized by those seeking to express themselves and engage with others without colonial restrictions on our imaginations.

Sources:

Gruzd, A., Wellman, B., & Takhteyev, Y. (2011). Imagining Twitter as an Imagined Community. American Behavioral Scientist, 55(10), 1294–1318. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764211409378

Habermas, J. (1992). The structural transformation of the public sphere. Polity Press.

Fraser, N. (1990). Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy. Social Text, 25/26, 56–80. https://doi.org/10.2307/466240

Graham, R., & Smith, ‘Shawn. (2016). The Content of Our #Characters: Black Twitter as Counterpublic. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 2(4), 433–449. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332649216639067

Tromble, R. (2018). Thanks for (actually) responding! How citizen demand shapes politicians’ interactive practices on Twitter. New Media & Society, 20(2), 676–697. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816669158

Ocasio-Cortez, A. [@aoc]. (2021, November 19). [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/aoc/status/1461783529197555715?s=11

Hill, M. L. (2018). “Thank You, Black Twitter”: State Violence, Digital Counterpublics, and Pedagogies of Resistance. Urban Education, 53(2), 286–302. https://doi.org/10.1177/004208591774712

Kgositsile, T. [@earlxsweat]. (2021, July 7).[Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/earlxsweat/status/1412826482070540289?s=11

McArthur, J. A., & White, A. F. (2016). Twitter Chats as Third Places: Conceptualizing a Digital Gathering Site. Social Media + Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116665857