An Incomplete Look at Black Twitter

If you have made an ignorant or racially insensitive comment. They will come for you.

If you decided to diss an iconic figure or movement. They will come for you.

If you had the audacity to release a product or campaign that excludes or insults people of color. They will come for you.

#BlackTwitter is a community of individuals armed with an arsenal of hashtags in response to almost any social movement. Over the years, Black Twitter has had an increasingly powerful influence on mainstream media and the thorn in the side of many public figures as both spokespeople for marginalized groups and opinion leaders.

This is not at all a comprehensive article on the complexities and nuances of this group.

As a force of activism, Black Twitter put hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter and #OscarsSoWhite on the map. They have sparked conversation, debate, and clapbacks on controversial topics with a carefully curated blend of eloquence, reason, and hilarity. Black Twitter strives to empower and inform. They will be heard. Even advertisers are seeing how important their voice is.

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A “Twitter Dragging” is an event in which people publicly call out or shame someone for doing something wrong, ignorant or simply when they’ve made a mistake on a social media platform. “Dragging” is not limited to Black Twitter, but they are one of the most prolific groups of participants (just ask Wendy Williams, Paula Deen, Ciara, a few other black celebrities and anyone who thought The Wiz was racist).

But some may argue that dragging in of itself is a new form of unregulated cyberbullying. There are incidents where parts of Black Twitter may have taken things too far and their ability to drag someone was misguided. In the case of Serena Williams’ engagement to Alexis Ohanian (a white man), many members of the vocal group were not happy; however, more of her fans inside and outside of the Black Twitter community came to her defense by counter dragging. So maybe Black Twitter dragging is different in the sense that it is self-correcting?