Althouse: "Why has Twitter become a black thing?"

June 6, 2010

"Why has Twitter become a black thing?"

"I think this word-of-mouth sharing by black tweeters could be the continuation of the griot tradition (the keeping of tribal history) brought to America by West African slaves who, according to Paul Oliver's book Yonder Come the Blues, 'extemporize on current events, chance incidents and the passing scene.' The Edison study found that 'many of the 'trending topics' on Twitter on a typical day are reflective of African-American culture, memes and topics.'"

18 comments:

Ron said...: Wow, There's my book! "Tweet Like Me"; 6/6/10, 9:01 AM
The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/6/10, 9:05 AM
paul a'barge said...: It makes sense.

Twitter is all about limits to how much you can say. Thus, it would be suitable for and supportive of a sub-culture that relishes shallow commentary.; 6/6/10, 9:41 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Top two trending topics on Twitter right now:

#itsnotcheatingif

#ghettospellingbee; 6/6/10, 9:49 AM
virgil xenophon said...: Understandable. According to several surveys, the biggest users of 3-way (party-line) calling are blacks.shmaster; 6/6/10, 10:07 AM
dbp said...: An alternate theory is that African Americans are just a fairly homogeneous group. Is there any other largish ethnic group that votes 90% for one party? Possibly on other matters they are similarly like-minded.

What percentage of tweets gets you to the top of a trending list? I would bet the number is closer to 1% than 10% and 10% means that most people are writing about something else.; 6/6/10, 10:14 AM
chickelit said...: Twitter --if you don't "get it" you're not doing it right.; 6/6/10, 11:08 AM
chuck b. said...: Poseur alert.; 6/6/10, 11:49 AM
Scott said...: African Americans are more social and "high touch" than white people. Twitter is a very natural tool for people with that outlook.; 6/6/10, 11:55 AM
Scott said...: You can hook into my partner's twitter at his website. And you can download his mixtape.; 6/6/10, 11:58 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: It's a Twitter thing: you don't understand.

A tweet is a terrible thing to waste.

Etc.

wv: "Supson" - how black males greet each other on Twitter.; 6/6/10, 12:03 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: "Why has Twitter become a black thing?"

Why does it matter if you're not racist?; 6/6/10, 12:05 PM
Jeff with one 'f' said...: They're trying to trump the white flight away from MySpace!; 6/6/10, 12:42 PM
Unknown said...: That is very nice posting. That African Americans are just a fairly homogeneous group. Is there any other largish ethnic student aid group that votes 90% for one party? Possibly on other matters they are similarly like-minded thanks.; 6/6/10, 2:41 PM
tim maguire said...: Poseur Alert!; 6/6/10, 3:35 PM
tim maguire said...: Damn! Chuck B beat me to it! Nevertheless, I stand by the sentiment.; 6/6/10, 3:36 PM
DaLawGiver said...: African Americans are more social and "high touch" than white people.

What racist crap. And how come you capitalize African Americans and not White People?

Racist.; 6/6/10, 3:39 PM
Scott said...: It's sad that, given the current state of American society, it's impossible for anyone to tell whether or not you're being facetious.; 6/6/10, 4:14 PM