Reclaiming racial authenticity through hashtags, tweets, and images

Authors

  • Michael R Williams University of Oklahoma

Keywords:

Digital Identity, Black Identity Development, Hashtag, Cool Pose

Abstract

In the modern digital age, Black men often navigate society with inconsistent control of their image and ideologies of masculinity. The underpinning of masculinity has established a rigid and violent caste that alienates marginalized gendered presentations within this exclusive club. Till now, with decades of advancements regarding the scope of technology and social media utilization, Black men regained control of their masculine imagery and identity by rewriting the narrative through hashtags, tweets, and images. This article examines how a small sample of five Black men utilized tweets to expand, challenge, redefine masculinity by establishing a sense of community. 

Author Biography

Michael R Williams, University of Oklahoma

Michael R. Williams, Ed.D., is with the Department of Human Relations at the University of Oklahoma. His scholarship focuses on Black masculine identity development, social media content, and social justice implementation methods. As a result of his scholarship, he has received several honors including the 2020 American Association of Blacks in Higher Education Dissertation Award (honorable mention); the 2019 Asa G Hilliard and Barbara Sizemore Fellowship on African American Education, two Academic Excellence Grants from Northeastern University, and Best Professional Development Award from Western Illinois University. Finally, as an instructor, he understands his position as a co-author in the learning process and not a position of authority. 

References

Ahmed, W., Bath, P. A., & Demartini, G. (2017). Using Twitter as a data source: An overview of ethical, legal, and methodological challenges. In The Ethics of Online Research (pp. 79-107). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Berelson, B. (1952). Content analysis in communication research. New York, NY: Free Press.

Busch, C., De Maret, P. S., Flynn, T., Kellum, R., Le, S., Meyers, B., ... Palquist, M. (2012). Content Analysis. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University. Available at https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guide.cfm?guideid=61.

Bozkurt, A., & Tu, C. H. (2016). Digital identity formation: Socially being real and present on digital networks. Educational Media International, 53(3), 153-167.

Chan, J. (2017). Racial identity in online spaces: Social media’s impact on students of color. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 54(2), 163-174.

Cross Jr, W. E., Parham, T. A., & Helms, J. E. (1991). The stages of Black identity development: Nigrescence models. In R. L. Jones (Ed.), Black psychology (pp. 319–338). Cobb & Henry Publishers.

Dwyer, R., & Fraser, S. (2016). Addicting via hashtags: How is Twitter making addiction?. Contemporary Drug Problems, 43(1), 79-97. Chicago.

Florini, S. (2014). Tweets, tweeps, and signifyin' communication and cultural performance on "Black Twitter". Television & New Media, 15(3), 223-237.

Guan, M., & So, J. (2016). Influence of social identity on self-efficacy beliefs through perceived social support: A social identity theory perspective. Communication Studies, 67(5), 588- 604. doi:10.1080/10510974.2016.1239645

Hall, R. E. (2009). Cool pose, black manhood, and juvenile delinquency. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 19(5), 531-539.

Jackson, B. A. (2018) Beyond the cool pose: Black men and emotional management strategies. Sociology Compass, 12(4), e12569

Jackson, B. W. (2001). Black identity development: Further analysis and elaboration. New perspectives on racial identity development: A theoretical and practical anthology, 8-31.

Jackson III, B. W. (2012). Black identity development. New Perspectives on Racial Identity Development: Integrating Emerging Frameworks, 33.

Jackson, S. J., Bailey, M., & Welles, B. F. (2020). #HashtagActivism: Networks of race and gender justice. MIT Press.

Jones, T. (2015). Toward a description of African American vernacular English dialect regions using “Black Twitter”. American Speech, 90(4), 403-440.

Macias, K. (2015). Tweeting Away Our Blues: An Interpretative Phenomenological Approach to Exploring Black Women's Use of Social Media to Combat Misogynoir. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dcar_etd/25/

Majors, R., & Billson, J. M. (1993). Cool pose: The dilemma of Black manhood in America. Simon and Schuster.

Marshall, C. & Rossman, G.B. (Eds). 2011. Designing qualitative research (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Rayson, S. (2014, February 10). Toolbox: Improve Your Twitter Insights with Twitonomy. Retrieved from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/smtoolbox-improve-your-twitter-insights-twitonomy

Siibak, A. (2010). Constructing masculinity on a social networking site: The case-study of visual self-presentations of young men on the profile images of SNS Rate. YOUNG, 18(4), 403–425. https://doi.org/10.1177/110330881001800403

Sullivan, J. M., & Platenburg, G. N. (2017). From Black-ish to Blackness: An analysis of Black information sources’ influence on Black identity development. Journal of Black Studies, 48(3), 215-234.

Stoller, E. (2013). Our shared future: Social media, leadership, vulnerability, and digital identity. Journal of College and Character, 14(1), 5-10.

Unnecer, J.D., & Chouhy, C. (2021). Race, racism, and the Cool Pose: Exploring Black and White male masculinity. Social Problems, 68(2), 490-512.

Vandiver, B. J., Fhagen-Smith, P. E., Cokley, K.O., Cross, Jr, W.E., & Worrell F.C. (2001). Cross’s nigrescence model: From theory to scale to theory. Journal and multicultural counseling and development, 29(3), 174-200

Williams, M. R. (2019). # AmIManEnough: Black Male Masculine Identity Development in the Digital Landscape of Twitter (Doctoral dissertation, Northeastern University).

Wright, B. L. (2009). Racial-Ethnic Identity, Academic Achievement, and African American Males: A Review of Literature. Journal of Negro Education, 78(2), 123-134. Chicago

Wijeyesinghe, C., & Jackson, B. W. (Eds.). (2012). New perspectives on racial identity development: Integrating emerging frameworks. NYU Press.

Downloads

Published

2021-12-31

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2021): The Journal of Social Media in Society

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).