How #Blacklivesmatter: exploring the role of hip-hop celebrities in constructing racial identity on Black Twitter
Abstract
Pundits disagree on the extent to which hip-hop artists have used their celebrity clout to further the #BlackLivesMatter movement. This study adds to a nascent body of research on Black Twitter by examining how celebrities, in particular, hip-hop celebrities, used the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag to create and maintain Black identity during the 2014 Ferguson protests related to racial justice and police brutality. Using computerized and manual content analyses of 2.67 million tweets, this study found more celebrity tweets were framed as related to Black identity compared with marketing/self-promotion. Further qualitative analysis of the Black identity-framed tweets revealed four themes: speaking to whites, solidarity, Black is beautiful, and equality. Through a lens of social identity theory, this study demonstrates how hip-hop celebrities used Black Twitter to construct Black identity and community, building on research that shows group identification is fundamental for creating the solidarity and commitment necessary for collective action.
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Adolescents are able to cultivate their social media feeds to display the content most relevant to their interests or identity.
“adolescents are able to cultivate their SM feeds to display the content most relevant to their interests or identity”
From The Perfect Storm: A Developmental-Sociocultural Framework for the Role of Social Media in Adolescent Girls' Body Image Concerns and Mental Health. (2022) · cites this paper as Harlow & Benbrook, 2019
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“Notably, adolescents are able to cultivate their SM feeds to display the content most relevant to their interests or identity, and racial and ethnic minority girls may use SM for racial and ethnic identity exploration (Harlow & Benbrook, 2019; Williams & Gonlin, 2017).”
Background
- Authors
- Harlow, S., & Benbrook, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Houston (US)
- Florida State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Harlow, Summer
- ORCID
- Harlow, Summer
- Venue
- Information, Communication & Society
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2017-10-10
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 352-368
- ISSN
- 1369-118X (ISSN-L)
- 1468-4462
- OpenAlex
- W2760986038
- Semantic Scholar
- 45d020b0d4c0edbea17c4074f325c9a93f525131
- Cited by
- 60
- References
- 72
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 2.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Information Communication & Society (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Communication › Social Media and Politics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Race, History, and American Society
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Cultural Identity and Representation
- Keywords
- #BlackLivesMatter, Black Twitter, racial identity, social identity theory, celebrity activism, Ferguson protests, police brutality, racial justice, solidarity, Black is Beautiful, collective action, hashtag activism
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