Hulu’s documentary Black Twitter is a vital cultural chronicle

They say “Twitter isn’t real life,” but Black Twitter proved otherwise. For years, this phrase has been a way to ignore the real impact of social media conversations, especially when they spark radical new ideas. But that’s clearly not true when you look at Black Twitter, an informal community made up of black users of the site that has inspired culturally significant movements with hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter and #OscariTakabelli. Hulu’s new documentary, Black Lives Matter: A People’s Story, adapted from Wired article by Jason Parham, explores the rise and global influence of the community. Over the course of three fascinating and often hilarious episodes, the series establishes itself as an important cultural document.

“The way I would define Black Twitter is a space where black culture is extended specifically in a digital way,” said Prentice Penny, series director and former host of the HBO show Uncertain, in an interview with the Engadget Podcast. “And even though it was a public space—clearly, it’s Twitter, anyone can get on it—it felt like you were having conversations with your friends who were like in the back of the bus. Or like on the step or in the dining room. I mean, that’s his energy.”

Specifically, Penny says Twitter felt special because there was no real hierarchy, especially in the early days. This meant that even celebrities weren’t immune to mockery or behavior on their own social media profiles (like Rihanna’s infamous early presence on Twitter). Twitter in its heyday felt like a place where money or class didn’t really matter.

“It was kind of leveling a lot of things, that somebody in Kentucky that nobody knows can have the same strong opinion as somebody that you respect, right?” Penny said. “And I think that’s what made the space so fresh, because we don’t really have spaces that are anything like a level playing field in this country.”

Twitter also felt really different from other social networks in the late 2000s. At the time, Facebook was mostly focused on connecting you with classmates and family members—it wasn’t really a place to just hang out and joke around. Prentice notes that Twitter’s enforced brevity also makes it unique, as you have to really focus on what you’re trying to say in 140 characters.

“Each of the creators [in the series] had a different idea of ​​what Twitter should be,” Penny added. “Some people thought it should be a town square, some people thought it should be news information… I think like with black culture, the only thing what we do really well is because we’re often given leftovers, we have to repurpose something like take the worst of the pig and make it soul food… I think we’re really good at taking things that can be different things and make it flexible for us.”

The documentary chronicles the many ways Black Twitter uses the platform, both for fun and to launch serious social movements. The community has helped make live TV a mainstream phenomenon, and that’s one of the reasons why Scandal became a hit television show. But black users also helped popularize the killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. His eventual acquittal led to the creation of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, a movement that sparked national protests in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd and other black Americans.

If you’ve been online and have been following the Black Twitter community for years, the Hulu documentary may not seem particularly revealing. But there is value in charting the impact of cultural movements, especially given how fast the social media and technology world moves.