Madison Smith

“Black Twitter” is a social media phenomenon that is changing the national conversation, but many people – including professional and strategic communicators – do not understand what it is or how it works. Black Twitter is an internet community largely consisting of the Black diaspora of users on the social network X (formerly Twitter), focused on issues of interest to the black community. Feminista Jones described it in Salon as "a collective of active, primarily African-American Twitter users who have created a virtual community proving adept at bringing about a wide range of sociopolitical changes." 

First things first, Black Twitter is not a separate entity from Twitter. Black Twitter is a grassroots movement within Twitter that has provided a virtual community of mostly African-American Twitter users a collective voice on a variety of issues, including Black Lives Matter. Black Twitter users often identify themselves using the #blacktwitter hashtag or by focusing on issues related to the black experience.