When Wired’s Jason Parham published “A People’s History of Black Twitter” in July 2021, it felt monumental. Here was an attempt to comprehensively recount one of the largest, most impactful online communities in history—a daunting task way beyond what most internet culture explainers ever approach. Its scope was so impressive that the feature was split into two parts.
“This story of Black Twitter is as important as the story of Facebook, as the story of all these other tech platforms,” Parham told The Daily Beast’s Obsessed in an interview at SXSW earlier this year, of the inspiration behind his feature. “Our story is valuable.”
But there was only so much that Parham could include. After all, Black Twitter is something that defies simple definition: It’s “a comedy showcase, therapy session, and family cookout all in one,” as Parham wrote in his piece. Black Twitter is the simplest way to refer to the space carved out by Black social media users, who have used the tools of the internet—memes, hashtags, trending topics—to develop a language, sense of community, and social influence.
