People all over the U.S. and beyond are taking part in the Blackout Tuesday campaign today, sharing black squares on social media in protest of police violence on the black community.
It’s a powerful show of solidarity and unity in response to the death of George Floyd, the black man who was killed while being restrained by Minneapolis police. But Oakland R&B star Kehlani and other people are also noticing that the campaign is unintentionally hurting the flow of information in the #BlackLivesMatter and #BLM channels, as an onslaught of new posts and tweets combining those hashtags hits social media today.
“We keep each other (tapped) in via social media,” Kehlani tweeted. “Getting off it for a day … anything could go down wit no ability to warm each other/help each other. I don’t know, man.”
https://twitter.com/Kehlani/status/1267703456032153600
Many others agreed with Kehlani’s point of view, underscoring how the situation has made it hard to navigate social media to find #BlackLivesMatter content outside of what was going on with Blackout Tuesday.
my initial thought is it feels dangerous… because once you click on the blm hashtag you’re directed to an overflow of black images, instead of other more useful content people could look at for information. pic.twitter.com/QiaHPeoWGP
— A (@atothebed) June 2, 2020
Many are suggesting that people don’t use the #BlackOutTuesday hashtag with the #BLM and #BlackLivesMatter hashtags. Instead, post them separately so that the posts associated with Blackout Tuesday do not clog up the channels for #BLM and #BlackLivesMatter.
“Guys, if you post in support of #blackouttuesday today, please DON’T add the BLM hashtag when you post #blackouttuesday black images — you’re making it harder for protesters to find information,” tweets Misha Collins.
— CJirishlez (@CJirishlez) June 2, 2020
Many are sharing instructions to delete posts that have used #BlackOutTuesday with either of the other two hashtags.
https://twitter.com/RiverdaleCrown/status/1267898832555249667
https://twitter.com/jimthecritic/status/1267915473384947712
Music industry speaks out, while going silent, on #BlackOutTuesday and #TheShowMustBePaused in solidarity with #GeorgeFloydprotest https://t.co/nRMIerLOMF
— Jim Harrington (@jimthecritic) June 1, 2020
![From Johnny Math]is to the Poynter Sisters to John Fogerty and Frederica von Stade and Mary Stallings, the Bay Area is blessed with iconic singers.](https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/SJM-L-ICONIC-04XX-11.jpg?w=537 "From Johnny Math]is to the Poynter Sisters to John Fogerty and Frederica von Stade and Mary Stallings, the Bay Area is blessed with iconic singers.")