Everyone’s social media feeds became a near-constant scroll of black boxes Tuesday, as a movement dubbed 'Blackout Tuesday’ took over platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
The purpose: To show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as protesters who have demonstrated en masse in cities across America following the May 25 death of George Floyd following an encounter with Minneapolis police.
But Black Lives Matter activists expressed concern that too many users were actually blacking out the flow of critical information by mis-tagging the digital protests with the hashtags #BlackLivesMatter or #BLM. Doing so, activists say, could cause important posts about protests and organizational efforts to get lost in the clutter, as platforms’ algorithms sort out feeds.
Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza tweeted: “Today we need to be MORE connected than ever.”
Instead of #BlackLivesMatter and #BLM, organizers and activists are encouraging users to use the hashtags like #BlackoutTuesday or #TheShowMustBePaused.
Blackout Tuesday was the idea of music executives Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas, who wanted those inside and outside the industry to “intentionally disrupt the work week" and “take a beat for an honest, reflective and productive conversation about what actions we need to collectively take to support the Black community.”
Locally, a number of notable figures and institutions tweeted or Instagrammed in support of Blackout Tuesday. The city of Tampa’s official account tweeted a black box with the caption: “We hear you. We are listening. And we stand together. #BlackoutTuesday.”
St. Petersburg deputy mayor Kanika Tomalin tweeted a black box with a small message in white lettering: “The city of St. Petersburg stands for inclusion, diversity, and equality for all. We stand together.”
Across Tampa Bay, organizations and outlets ranging from restaurants to concert venues to markets to pro sports teams participated. So did numerous individual athletes, including new Buccaneer Tom Brady and his wife Gisele Bundchen.
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June 02, 2020 at 07:21PM
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‘Blackout Tuesday’ is happening everywhere. Here’s how activists say to do it right - Tampa Bay Times
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