The Los Angeles Times has just learned a valuable lesson: Don’t mess with Black Twitter.
While other major newspapers have written stories about the alternate social-media universe referred to as “Black Twitter,” the LA Times is the first to have a full-time reporter dedicated to subject. But judging by the reaction, this new coverage beat is off to a bumpy start.
The Times found itself on the receiving end of outrage Thursday for a story suggesting that Black Twitter doesn’t operate with one collective mind.
The article, “When ‘Black Twitter’ Sounds Like ‘White Twitter,’” found reporter Dexter Thomas stating the case that Black Twitter might not be “a unified collective of progressive people who enjoy jokes and social justice,” as it has sometimes been characterized.