African Americans on Twitter
Research has suggested that Twitter is proportionately more popular with Black people. “According to Edison Research’s annual report on Twitter, black people represent 25% of Twitter users, roughly twice their share of the population in general” (Saint). African Americans make up 12% of the general population, yet they account for 25% of twitter users. It is important to note that some articles have found falt in Edison’s research. Regardless, the statistics do not explain the popularity of black hashtags and trending topics on Twitter. This article from business-insider comes up with three main reasons African Americans use twitter more than other groups:
Twitter users are “more engaged with the mobile Internet than the general population by a wide margin.” Data shows that African Americans (and Hispanics) are more likely to access the internet from cell phones and twitter is easy to access from a mobile device.There are more black celebrities on twitter than white celebrities.Median age fore white Americans is 37 while the median age for Black Americans is 30 years old. Twitter is most used by people 25-34 years old. Thus, Black people make up a larger percentage of the population that would use twitter.
The ever famous # symbol is known as a hashtag on Twitter. It is used by tweeters to categorize their tweets or messages. Many people trace the origin of the hashtag to a black woman in California. The user Kookeyy was tweeting one night and ended her post with a “#wordsthatleadtotrouble 'Don't Worry I gotchu.” Later she posted a different message with the same hashtag at the end. Within hours, thousands of people were tweeting messages with the same hashtag at the end. “To judge from their Twitter avatars, nearly everyone participating in #wordsthatleadtotrouble was black” (Manjoo). Although trending topics have become extremely popular among all twitter users, predominately “blackhashtags” are quite common. Some people see black hashtags as the new wave of call and response, a tradition in the black community.
Black people are u
sing Twitter differently. Slate.com says they form tighter relationships on the network- they follow each other more often, re-tweet each other more often, and post reply’s to each others tweets more often. It is this behavior that seems to allow black people,especially young black people the ability “to dominate the conversation on Twitter” (Manjoo). Blackweb2.0 says that minority groups, especially Blacks and Hispanics, are more likely to access the internet from their phones. The author says he knows many households that do not have computers but access Twitter through their cell phones. The popularity of Twitter in the African American community could be somewhat attributed to that.Works Cited
Manjoo, Farhad. "How Black People Use Twitter. - By Farhad Manjoo." Slate Magazine. 10 Aug. 2010. Web. 09 Feb. 2011. Saint, Nick. "Why Is Twitter More Popular With Black People Than White People?" Business Insider. 30 Apr. 2010. Web. 09 Feb. 2011.
Sicha, Choire. "What Were Black People Talking About on Twitter Last Night? | The Awl." The Awl - Be Less Stupid. 11 Nov. 2009. Web. 09 Feb. 2011.
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