Before I read the article “Shooting Spurs Hashtag Effect on Stereotypes” I was minimally aware of the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown. After reading more about it, I find it incredibly empowering. I had not known about “Black Twitter” and the data surrounding it was surprising to me. Now that I’m aware that 40 percent of African-Americans aged 18-29 use twitter compared 28 percent of white users, I’m excited for the first time that Twitter even exists.
It’s interesting that something that is seemingly so small, such as a hashtag, can have big results since the commenters were trying to organize vigils for the victims of police shootings. It makes me proud to be an internet user and it gives me hope for social media considering that there seem to be so many studies existing that talk about the negative effects.
I had been seeing people do duel images of white serial killers / shooters and the way they were portrayed in the media versus African-American victims of police violence and shooting, and the comparisons are striking and sad. The white perpetrators of crimes are always peaceful looking in their photos, and the captions accompanying them search for their good qualities while the articles surrounding the African-American victims always emphasize the negative.
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