There are a couple of points of departure for that. Did somebody coin the term “Black Twitter”? And when did it start?Ī.
It’s all in the way that people use the platform to draw attention to issues of concern to black communities. I always explain to people that Black Twitter doesn’t have a gateway, a secret knock. It’s the culture that we experienced in our lives and school, in the workplace, with entertainment – and you see conversations coalesce around specific cultural moments.
I define “Black Twitter” as a network of culturally connected communicators using the platform to draw attention to issues of concern to black communities. “Black Twitter” is something referred to a lot, but I think there are some people who aren’t 100 percent sure what it really means. UVA Today caught up with Clark, whose interest in the subject of African-American social media use has led to a $1.2 million research grant from the Andrew W. Phumlani Kango is a contributing writer for Anova Health Institute.“I had seen my mother do that a million times,” Clark said, “and I’ve done it myself.”Ĭlark said this type of “cultural resonance” is at the heart of “Black Twitter,” a course she has taught for the last three semesters. What are your thoughts on online safe spaces? The great thing about platforms such as Facebook is that we can have private groups where access is allowed by an administrator and we can curate positive content, unlike Twitter where you have to make a conscious effort in choosing who to follow. By creating this online safe environment we can help one another overcome some of our challenges.īy creating an online safe space we are able to affirm one another as gay people because majority of the LGBT youth uses the Internet and social media, so it becomes important to utilize spaces like these outside of the spaces we create in the real world (that are often non-existent in some communities which highlight the importance of using these online spaces to educate and be role models). We cannot ignore the fact that a lot of people can only be “free” online because in the real world their friends and family are not understanding and most probably are homophobic.
It’s also an online space where younger gays have access to some of us elders who can share our experiences and answer any questions that they may have.įor example, I had a few younger gays sending me messages telling me about how much they wish they were as confident as me to live so openly and also share of them their struggles. Geigh Twitter is important for the black gay child in that it provides an online safe space where even people who are trying to figure out their sexuality can get information and speak to anyone they feel comfortable with. I love the fact that we all unite when it comes to fighting homophobia, it would be great if this would transcend to facets of gay culture. Geigh Twitter is filled with different people who all share the same mandate, which is to improve the lives of Queer men obviously, there is some shade now and again, but we still share the same sentiment, which is to fight homophobia and make our lives better. You’re probably wondering why I mentioned these people, right? These are some of the influential people on Geigh Twitter who are constantly trying to make the experience for the black geigh child better. It would be unfair to not acknowledge all the geighs that make up this section of Black Twitter because each individual contributes something to our community. These are some of the geigh people who are doing things every day to inspire the black gay child, not forgetting myself of course with my work with #PrEP and Mental Health.
runs an NGO from the Eastern Cape called Cater For All, whilst being the go-to person for advice for some of the community members as he is one of the respected members of the community (I also stand). You also get the likes of and who are curating insightful and engaging content. (Black) Geigh Twitter is a formidable force on Black Twitter with the likes of who is able to start and curate conversations about LGBTI issues whilst addressing straight folk who are the cause of some of our issues in the community. It is not a secret that Black Twitter is basically South African Twitter and within Black Twitter you tend to find factions such as Gym Twitter, Promo Twitter and of course the influential gay twitter or as we call it GEIGH Twitter.