INFOGRAPHIC: A History Of Black Twitter

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This month, NewsOne presents a special exploration of Black Americans’ influence on social media, #TWEETING WHILE BLACK.

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The concept of “Black Twitter” actually has a history that is years-deep. We believe that the phenomenon has its roots in Black innovation — our cultural predilection to take tools and technology and use them in ways that even their creators never imagined possible. And while for some the Black predominance on social networks like Twitter may cause consternation — and to others a shrug of indifference — the phenomenon itself is so rich and still so present that it’s worth a bit of a recap.

SEE ALSO: Top Ten Black Tweeters

Here, then, is some perspective: The history of Black Twitter, laid out in visual form:

SEE THE ENTIRE #TWEETINGWHILEBLACK SERIES HERE

SOURCES:

Jan 2007 First study noticing racial divide in social networks

Jun 2009 OMG! Black People!

Oct 2009 First study of Black “over-indexing” on Twitter

Nov 2009 Twitter starts “curating” trending topics

Nov 2009 White blogger coins term “Black Twitter”?

Apr 2010 Study: Blacks represent 1/4 of Twitter users

May 2010 Gawker piece on “#thingsblackpeopledo” trend

Jul 2010 “White Flight” from Myspace to Facebook