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New Internet phenomenon Black Twitter growing in clout in virtual world

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ANI Washington
Last Updated : Mar 11 2014 | 3:20 PM IST

A new internet phenomenon called 'BlackTwitter' is increasingly catching up on the virtual world as a way for people to unabashedly present their black spin on life in 140-character installments.

Although Black Twitter is pretty much about everything from President Barack Obama to the latest TV reality show antics, it can also turn activist quickly.

According to Fox News, catchy hashtags on social media are a hallmark and give clues that the tweeting is a Black Twitter thing and doesn't necessarily stick out among the trending topics on Twitter, or have only black participants.

Tracy Clayton, a blogger and editor at Buzzfeed known on Twitter as @brokeymcpoverty, said that it is kind of like the black table in the lunchroom, where people with like interests and experiences, and ways of talking and communication, lump together and talk among themselves.

Another Twitter user explained that if someone is from a particularly marginalized community or one where others have spoken for them, but they have not had the agency to really speak for themselves, then it is necessary to take on that agency and that is what is seen happening in Black Twitter.

The report said that last year, Black Twitter abruptly rose up to scuttle a book deal for a juror in the trial of Zimmerman, who was acquitted of murder in the death of black teenager Trayvon Martin and recently, through hashtags like #stopthefight, it protested a proposed celebrity boxing match supposedly between Zimmerman and rapper DMX, that was eventually called off.

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First Published: Mar 11 2014 | 3:06 PM IST

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