1 week Ago By Angie Han
When was published in 2021, the social media platform appeared powerful as ever. As it had been for over a decade, the site was a hub of community and influence, where users might go to bullshit with friends, to organize with activists, to read and report news in real time, maybe even to mingle with a celebrity or two. Sure, it had its problems with trolls or bots or poor moderation; sure, TikTok was already moving in fast.
But Twitter seemed to be, if not thriving, at least chugging along with no obvious end in sight. A lot can change in three years, however — and a lot has, particularly since Elon Musk’s acquisition of the site in 2022. ‘s reiterates and expands on Jason Parham’s article, braiding together interviews with journalists, comedians and other commentators to outline the rise of a revolution and its lasting effect.
But from the vantage of 2024, the series takes on a more reflective tenor — a look back at a time recently passed, rather than an effort to document a story still unfolding. While Black users have been on Twitter as long as Twitter has existed, both Parham and director Prentice Penny ( ) pin the start of Black Twitter as a distinct phenomenon to around 2009, with Ashley Weatherspoon’s #UKnowUrBlackWhen as one of its first uniting viral moments. From there, the documentary traces a path loosely organized by chronology and theme.
The first episode focuses on the early days of the community and its lighter side — the jokes, the watch parties.
