New Media and Ebonics

The current study's major purpose was to discuss Ebonics with modern (social) media. The study sought to discover the origins and extent to which Black Twitter has been utilized to push Ebonics in the United States and around the world. Ebonics is a language employed by US citizens of African descent.


The term “Black Twitter” was first used in 2009 in an article written by Sicha (2009). Black Twitter has multiple meanings, for instance, it is used to refer to the tweets made by the African Americans on Twitter. The fluid and transient nature of Black Twitter has aroused the attention of the media and the academia who have tried to understand its nature and scope. Trending topics on Black (African American) Twitter are unique compared to White Twitter conversations (Sicha, 2009). Initially, Sicha (2009) and other researchers postulated that African Americans Twitter handles were more active during the night, however, a scrutiny established that they were engaged all the time while the white population was often active during the day (Sicha, 2009). Another delineating feature is that a majority of the African Americans on Twitter actively participate in trending topics that are ranked among the top because of the higher number of comments, retweets, and likes. Black Twitter is primarily focused on issues that relate to African American culture besides hashtags used on Black Twitter constitute a virtual field state (Ramsey, 2015).


The Historical Context of Ebonics


The origin of Ebonics dates back to the 16th to 18th century during African immigration to the US. The slaves had to learn Standard American English from their masters. Nonetheless, Standard American English remained as secondary language while the African languages remained primary (Roengpitya, Saelim, & Kittikhunnasak, 2015). Besides, the phonological and lexical variations between the West African languages and American English made it difficult for the African slaves to speak proper English (Roengpitya, Saelim, & Kittikhunnasak, 2015). The masters also contributed to the emergence of Ebonics because they only taught basic grammar that was devoid of syntactic components. With time, the slaves taught their children how to speak English. However, what the Africans conveyed to their children was not Standard American English but a variant (Roengpitya, Saelim, & Kittikhunnasak, 2015). The new generation of slave descendants helped to advance Ebonics across the US because it was their primary language. The historical background explains why there are marked surface variations (phonology and syntax) between Ebonics and standard American English despite the fact that the two share similar words and phrases. The principal elements of native West African languages are still prevalent in Ebonics.


Presently, linguists have not had a consensus regarding the origin of the language. On the one hand, some believe that Ebonics has English origins because most of the words bear striking similarities to those used in mainstream English (Rickford, 2017). Others believe that the language has developed from the interaction between the African slaves and indentured servants. On the other hand, it is presumed that the Ebonics evolved from the dialects spoken in Western African countries of Ghana and Nigeria where most of the slaves originated (Rickford, 2017). The African theory is supported by the fact that some dialects in Western Africa do not pronounce final consonants and “th” in words.


Ebonics Adoption in the US


The adoption of Ebonics in the public domain in the US can be traced back to 1996 when Oakland District formally permitted the African American students attending schools in the district to use the language for communication (Kretzschmar, 2008). The declaration by Oakland’s district education did more than just permit students to communicate in a language that suited them but the board also formally classified Ebonics as a language (Kretzschmar, 2008). The Oakland Ebonics declaration was the first catalyst that facilitated the spread of the Ebonics language in all the states. The advent and adoption of the new technology such as social media (Facebook and Twitter) starting from 2004 have also contributed to the spread of Ebonics as a standard language, accepted by a majority of African Americans and other Americans. However, some Ebonics speakers are not aware that they speak a language that is different from English.


Ebonics was endorsed by the mainstream media before its adoption in the social media. At the time, the traditional media hailed the Ebonics declaration as a transformative approach that would ensure that there was linguistic freedom in the US (Kretzschmar, 2008). In the aftermath of the Oakland Ebonics declaration, there was a concerted debate as proponents and opponents of the new language discussed the future ramifications of the announcement and the controversy that ensued (Kretzschmar, 2008). In light of the growth of Ebonics in mainstream media, Twitter has served as a conduit of the language internationally. In the following sections, a detailed literature review concerning the Ebonics debate, the axis of Black Twitter and Ebonics, Twitter and social identity were discussed.


Theory


The Ebonics Debate


The debate regarding the merits or demerits of Ebonics has progressed and assumed new dimensions over time. However, it has been primarily confined to stakeholders in the language sector such as policymakers, educators, and teachers (Clark, 2014). The pivot of pedagogy, political power, and language influences the adopted language of instruction in multiple ways. The continued adoption of Ebonics has resulted in stiff opposition. Some claim that the language should be used in a school setting while others argue that its recognition lacks merit because it is slang. The above argument is not credible primarily because previous studies have affirmed that the language has its dialects, lexicons, and phonology – the fundamental building blocks of any language (Roengpitya, Saelim, & Kittikhunnasak, 2015). Therefore, the fact that some persons presume it to be a dialect is a matter of political interpretation rather than empirical investigation. The above assertion is founded on the fact that the American English in use today is a product of nonlinguistic forces such as political and social capital, which are varied from the inherent features of Standard American English (Roengpitya, Saelim, & Kittikhunnasak, 2015). The Ebonics debate has raged on partly because it raises pertinent issues concerning social identity.


Variants of mainstream languages such as West African Pidgin English has been used as a symbol of the collective identity of West Africans who have a different sociocultural identity from British English and American English speakers (Nakamura, 2008). The same case applies to Ebonics in the context of the African-American culture. Besides, the minorities who speak non-prestigious languages that vary from the languages used by the majority groups are considered to be challenging the social and political power of the majorities – a case of linguistic imperialism (Jacquemet, 2005). The argument illustrates the current linguist quagmire in the US. A majority of the population speaks standard American English while only sections of the minorities (African Americans) speak Ebonics. The central questions are: who wields power in language? What agenda does the language advance in the social media?


Twitter


Since the advent of the social media and the continued miniaturization of computing devices, people around the world have continued to embrace Twitter in diverse domains such as national security and emergencies (Hughes & Palen, 2009). Presently, the number of active Twitter users in the world is approximately 328 million (Statista, 2017). The platform has continued to appeal to the younger generation because of its brevity, unique feedback mechanisms, and multiplatform access (Brock, 2012). This statistics highlighted above partly explains why most African Americans in the US are on Twitter. Presently, over 25 percent of Twitter users in the US are African Americans in spite of the fact that they constitute only 18 percent of the US population (Brock, 2012; US Census Bureau, 2016).


Previously, Twitter was viewed as the online territory for tech-savvy White Americans. However, this changed after leading celebrities embraced the platform, which resulted in a marked growth in the number of Twitter users (Stever & Lawson, 2013). In 2010, researchers realized that Twitter use was skewed in favor of African Americans (Clark, 2014). The structural, electronic, and temporal discourse that is the hallmark of Twitter has stimulated the formation of virtual ties between African American groups. Therefore, Twitter should be viewed as more than just an information source because viewing the platform as merely a source of information is a narrow approach that excludes the cultural exchanges mediated by the platform.


Black Twitter


The growth in Black Twitter is a clear illustration that interpersonal interactions on social networking sites are shaped by culture and race (Brock, 2012). In Black Twitter, the hashtags used by the African Americans are referred to as black tags. Black tags are unique in that they motivate African American conversations on Black Twitter. The black tags also enabled Twitter members to filter through the Twitter noise and focus on the conversations of the people in their social networks (Bonilla & Rosa, 2015).


The understanding of the Black Twitter phenomenon can be elucidated from three dimensions namely the platforms interface, utility, and audience. The dimensional approach takes into consideration the techno-cultural theory which elaborates how Twitter users and authors of African American descent articulate the platform primarily as a racial artifact (Brock, 2012). Therefore, this segment of the population is mainly liable for the techno-cultural practices that are evident on Twitter. Preliminary investigation of the platform has established that Twitter plays a fundamental role in facilitating cultural exchanges between different Twitter users. Besides, Twitter features are detrimental to ethical and moral-cultural exchanges depending on the racial views of the Twitter users. Therefore, the racial inclination of the discussants in Twitter conversations influence to a large extent the positivity or negativity in the cultural exchanges (Brock, 2012). A case in point, on one hand, ethical and moral conversations are alive in the Twitter-sphere such as civic activism. On the other hand, the same platform has served as a conduit for cultural stereotypes associated with African Americans. One of the main issues under consideration in the current research is whether Twitter is an appropriate avenue for advancing Black culture.


Some pundits regard the Twitter platform as value neutral. However, such a view is flawed because it does not help to explain why Black Twitter has been able to grow on a platform that was initially perceived to be a domain for White techno-savvy and information savvy persons (Sicha, 2009). So far, Twitter has been ascertained to be a value-biased service because racial discourses are regarded as positive when advanced by persons from a majority race. Nonetheless, when African Americans initiated a racial discourse, they were perceived to be advancing racism and negative sentiments regarding race (Sicha, 2009). Black Twitter has so far been characterized by the viral spread of tweets, trending topics, conversations that are confined to homophiles, and culturally relevant hashtags (Brock, 2012). Therefore, it would be postulated that the growth of Black Twitter has been defined by a user-created discourse revolving around a key hashtag. Since all African American conversations are defined by hashtags, this has led to the development of a new term – Black Twitter hashtag. It is worthy to note that despite the fact that hashtag application in social media platforms was in use before the advent of trending topics; hashtags and trending topics have been instrumental in the spread of Black Twitter and the delineation of the unique features of this form of communication (Brock, 2012).


The fact that Black Twitter has been thrust into the limelight while white people Twitter has remained in obscurity is an indication that the academia and society are taking note of trending issues that inform conversations primarily on race and Black identity. However, the current bias towards Black Twitter could also be connoted to mean that white people tweets blend in with normal Twitter because their primary focus is not to advance the construct of white identity (Brock, 2012).


In recent past, Black Twitter has become a force to reckon with, especially on matters touching on Black lives. For instance, the killings witnessed in Ferguson, Missouri illustrated the shear strength of the Black Twitter movement through the #MikeBrown and #Ferguson hashtags. Within the first week of the incident, close to 4 million tweets were posted on Twitter; the tweets encompassed different facets of the incident ranging from police culpability to the questions surrounding race in the modern US society. In four weeks’ time, the tweets had surpassed eight million – a clear illustration of the breadth and scope of Black Twitter (Bonilla & Rosa, 2015). Despite the fact that media attention fizzled out days after the incident, Black Twitter remained as an ardent tool for social analysis and political activism among African Americans. Besides, Black Twitter has so far been employed to advocate for the rights of Blacks in the US and abroad; the #BlackLivesMatter and #BringBackOurGirls trending topics were a case in point (Ramsey, 2015). The fact that the former first lady Michelle Obama posted a tweet regarding the #BringBackOurGirls trending topic was a clear illustration that Black Twitter is ubiquitous regardless of social class or political inclination.


Twitter User Demographics


The adoption of Black Twitter is discussed in the context of the younger population because a large proportion of the Twitter user population is made of young people. Therefore, the demographics of the Twitter netizens vary from those of the general population, and it would be inappropriate to presume that the conversations trending on Black Twitter were representative of the general population.


A case in point, a majority of the Twitter population (millennials) is better educated compared to the population (minors and baby boomers) that is not on Twitter. The millennial population is more liberal and dexterously influenced by politics (Mellon & Prosser, 2017). The political inclinations increase the likelihood of adopting left-wing politics. It is noteworthy that the political inclinations of the Twitter users are integral in understanding Black Twitter because racism, language, and segregation were political tools advanced to serve multiple agendas during the slavery and colonization periods.


Social Media and Technology Culture in US


Social media culture and technology culture in the US revolves around six fundamental issues namely, masculinity, whiteness, modernity, religion, and progress (Brock, 2012). In the Essays on Media and Society, the author notes that social media platforms and other communication streams are primarily a medium of transmitting long-held individual beliefs that are embedded within the information (Carey, 2009). Additionally, the social media (Twitter included) has increased the audience and scope of reach for western ideologies. However, sometimes the avenues for discussing the ideologies are stifled. Since Twitter provides an avenue through which value free information may be propagated, some view it as a conduit for imparting culture to others. Similar to other channels for cultural expression, Twitter facilitates and or hinders the moderation of cultural and racial identity (Carey, 2009). Specifically, in the US, the social media has been widely used to uphold the traditional racial stereotypes through discourses tinged with racial undertones (Brock, 2012).


Social Identity, Race, and Black Twitter


One of the pertinent issues in national conversations in the US is the issue surrounding the "whiteness" or “blackness” of one's skin color. On the one hand, whiteness is a representation of progress and civilization; on the other hand, blackness represents pre-modernity and primitivism (Hobson, 2008). Despite the commendable progress, that has been made concerning civil rights and education, the stereotypes associated with the whiteness of one's skin color are still prevalent in the US and other modern societies. Therefore, Black Twitter should be viewed in light of the volatile and fluid race relations in the US. The significant variations in income, health and social acceptance between the African Americans and whites has exacerbated the situation (Richeson & Sommers, 2016). Nonetheless, an intellectual inquisition into this construct has ascertained that the racism is based on a paradox while “Blackness” is based on a conflicted identity.


The current link between Ebonics, race, and Black Twitter can be further elucidated using social identity theory. The theory postulates that people naturally place others into different groups albeit with minimal effort. The classification results in what is regarded as “we” versus “they” mentality depending on how best their actions fit into their purview. A case in point, before the increasing popularity of Black Twitter (in the initial phases of internet rollout) African Americans had less access to the internet, and therefore, they were considered outsiders to what was taking place on the internet (Clark, 2014; Florini, 2014). The primary distinction between a person’s ingroups and outgroups affects a person's behavior, affect, cognition, and perception in a manner that consequently results in systemic biases and buttresses intergroup partiality that is witnessed today in the social media (Richeson & Sommers, 2016). The social identity theory best explains why Black Twitter has augmented social bonds amongst African Americans at least in the Twitter-sphere while reinforcing racial biases that have continued to define American culture post-slavery.


The group paradigm regarding Ebonics and the racial and linguistic classification of persons or otherwise has progressed over time because individuals feel that they need to affirm and protect their self-identity; affordance is also propagated in the ingroups. The theory illustrates why it has been difficult for the majority white population to blend into the Black Twitter-sphere. It subsequently creates a scenario where members of a particular group cooperate among themselves and strive to improve their ingroup at the expense of the outgroups. Twitter and other new media sites have been used to advance this construct. However, in reality, the new media has been used to advance what has already been in alive in the society. For instance, on the one hand, most white Americans have historically shown preference to other white Americans in all aspects of modern day life such as segregated neighborhoods and club membership (Burrow, Stanley, Sumner, & Hill, 2014). On the other hand, the African Americans have advanced this form of racial segregation by creating virtual societies in the social media that indirectly segregate the white population.


Black Twitter and Ebonics


Variations in identity have to be expressed to be perceived as illustrated in the preceding sections. The racial identity construct that is currently advanced on Twitter is an illustration that racially biased users are inclined to advance such concepts in social media. Florini (2014) postulated that US cultural-racial relations were influenced by corporeal identifiers. Nonetheless, in the Twitter-sphere (Black Twitter) such corporeal signifiers can be parodied or masked (for instance, deceptive avatars). In instances when distinct corporeal signifiers were not readily apparent, African American Twitter users show their particularity by illustrating “cultural competence.” The illustration of cultural competence among African Americans on Twitter is mediated by Ebonics, which is rich in cultural and social resources and non-corporeal signifiers (Brock, 2009). Therefore, African Americans on Twitter primarily employ linguistic resources and verbal performances to display their racial identities in the social media (Twitter in particular).


One of the conventional approaches which African Americans use to illustrate their linguistic prowess on Twitter is the art of “signifyin’”. In this case, “signifyin’” is a form of linguistic performance that is widely evident in Ebonics. The genre permits its users to convey information in multiple levels of meaning concurrently. The hallmarks of signifyin’ are misdirection and wordplay. The signifyin’ genre in Ebonics represents a deeply entrenched practice in oral traditions among African Americans that serves as a primary form of linguistic expression. Linguistic expression in the social media and in other domains serves as an integral part of African American cultural identity.


The simple act of signifyin' among African Americans is highly regarded because it catalogs the previous instantiations in the genre and the accompanying cultural and social environments under which the Ebonics genre was practiced and cultivated (Florini, 2014). The employment of signifyin’ among other Ebonics genres appeals to a long-standing tradition of great cultural significance among African Americans. Therefore, generations of African Americans have employed signifyin’ on Twitter as a mode of expressing their cultural knowledge. Nonetheless, signifyin’ in the social media has also been employed as a tool for cultivating group solidarity and as a means for social critique (Florini, 2014). Additionally, signifyin’, especially in the social media creates a framework through which African Americans interact and consequently coordinate their actions in line with oral traditions in their culture. Besides, Ebonics allows African Americans to share knowledge and experiences (this was evident during the Ferguson shootings); execute African American subjectivities and propagate culture (Florini, 2014).


However, considering Ebonics in the context of African American interactions is a narrow purview because Twitter is a global platform. Whatever is posted on Twitter is available to a global audience. Therefore, the use of Ebonics on social media platforms has enabled the world to appreciate Ebonics. Signifyin’ is rich in illustrations of wit and humor, which may seem trivial those are not familiar with such forms of expression. Despite its basic features, Ebonics (signifyin’) is a powerful form of illustrating one’s racial identity. Therefore, Twitter has mediated racial and cultural identity among African Americans by allowing them to express their identity in 140 characters. Florini (2014) and other researchers regard it heuristic that people use the phrase Black Twitter to refer to posts made by African Americans on Twitter; primarily because persons of color (African Americans) were previously regarded as invisible in both social media and academic spheres (Florini, 2014). Research on the unique features of Black Twitter helps to distinguish African Americans as being unique from the general Twitter population. Nonetheless, it should be appreciated that the existence of Black Twitter is neither monolithic nor unified (Florini, 2014). The Black Twitter idea bears striking similarities to the concept of “Black Culture or Black America” which does not exist in reality. The reality is that the Twitter platform is home to millions of African American users who use the site to engage, connect and network with their fellow African Americans with same cultural practices, tastes, experiences, and shared beliefs. Despite the fact that African Americans are not monoliths, the construct of Blackness is widely regarded as a cultural identification tag with important historical and political meaning.


Given that social media users are free to conceal their race if they wish to do so; the fact that African Americans are willing to communicate using Ebonics is an indicator that they are willing to resist racial marginalization, cultural segregation and tradition erasure at least in the Twitter-sphere (Nakamura, 2008).


Black Twitter and Signifyin’


In linguistics and academia, the signifyin’ genre refers to diverse oral traditions with African American origins, for instance, loud talk, sounding, playing the dozens, marking, and woofing. In “The Signifying Monkey: A theory of African-American Literary Criticism,” Gates (2014) asserts that the act of signifyin’ derives its origins from Central and West African traditions and cultures that were introduced in the US by Africans during the slave trade. With time, the linguistic genre acclimatized to the new cultures and environments that the slaves were introduced to and in the process, the genre assumed various forms (Gates, 2014). Presently, signifyin' is adapted to different discourses. However, it primarily serves as a substitute form of communication that is preferred because of its wit and artistry; and the fact that much of the meaning in Ebonics communication is not in the syntax and lexical components or their combinations.


After the West Africans had arrived on US shores, they continuously found themselves in an unfriendly environment primarily because of the volatile and fluid racial relations that existed at the time. However, the Africans at the time found solace in signifyin’ and other linguistic genres of Ebonics that allowed them to encode particular information in their communication and speak in double voices that were not clear to the whites (Florini, 2014). Since then, signifyin' has continued to inculcate a culture of communal solidarity among the African Americans. The commonality extends today in the social media. The perfected verbal performances and ingenious use of language are the primary features of the signifyin’ genre. In the course of time, these features have been crucial in the sustenance of African American communities.


For most African Americans, the verbal performances that accompany signifyin’ involve a group of epistemologies that blend both politics and linguistic aesthetics (Johnson, 2006). The amalgamation of politics and aesthetics has become a versatile tool that African Americans have used to counter racial oppression that is still prevalent in the US today. The linguistic performances, wit, and encoding of information are an integral part of what is regarded as "Blackness” or African American cultural identity.


The avenue for social critique that was traditionally afforded by Ebonics (signifyin’ in particular) was expanded after African Americans began to use Twitter on a broader scale. A case in point, Black Twitter has provided a channel for social criticism, strengthening of social bonds albeit virtually among African Americans and conveying encoded information. Some of the words and phrases that are unique to Ebonics have been accepted in Standard English; for instance, the phrase “make it rain” is used by African Americans to describe a scenario where a person flings money in the air, and it streams down like a rainfall (Florini, 2014). The word “diss” is also used by African Americans in reference to a verbal play where one person outperforms the other by making fun of them. However, in Standard English, the term refers to discredit or disrespect. Given that the term dis and the accompanying wordplay, wit, and dexterity have become commonplace in mainstream English (Ogbogu, 2016), it can be postulated that Black Twitter has had a significant effect on other mainstream languages.


The defining aspects of dissing include competitive verbal plays; the traditional conventions of dissing enable participation between different persons by enacting unwritten rules of engagement that minimize hostility and interpersonal conflict. Such an environment enables the participants to make fun and outperform another verbally without necessary engaging in open insults. The concept of dissing is alive on Black Twitter albeit with some variation.


Case Study


The case study in the following section was derived from a study undertaken by Florini (2014) and a brief empirical study undertaken by the researcher. The case study deciphered selected trending topics on Black Twitter that illustrate the use of Ebonics in social conversations. The most prevalent form of Ebonics on Black Twitter was signifyin’. The tweets and trending topics in the Florini (2014) study were based on Twitter activity in 2009. The researcher observed some peculiarities regarding the use of Black Twitter; for instance, it was noted that some of the hashtags on Twitter attracted more online activity more than others primarily because of the issues raised on the topic. A case in point, the researcher noted that hashtags that raised issues pertaining to black cultural identities stimulated more interactions, comments, tweets, and retweets in comparison to those that elicited issues that were not related to black matters. Besides, some of the posts made by African Americans on Twitter employed slang; for instance, in the hashtag #howyouballing. Besides, additional unique features were noted on Black Twitter including some African American conversations on Black Twitter under hashtags that could not be associated with Ebonics or Black Twitter. One of the noted hashtags was #InstantTurnoffs. The only factors that indicated that the hashtags were for African American conversations were the avatars and memes (Florini, 2014). Besides, a scroll through the timelines of a majority of the Twitter handles illustrated that the users were indeed African Americans because they illustrated a history of exchanges and games that were confined to a particular hashtag meme. The signifyin' genre of Ebonics is sometimes manifested by memes on Twitter.


Apart from communication and the conveyance of encoded information, the researcher noted that signifyin’ on Twitter was used for the preservation and benchmarking of African American culture and racial identity. A case in point, during the period under consideration, the researcher noted that the hashtag #FakeDrakeLyrics or #Drake was used by the African Americans to make fun of Drake’s music and his lyrical style (Florini, 2014). Nonetheless, it was noted that for an individual to participate in the African American conversations on #Drake, one had to be conversant with African American cultural competencies, and this was only possible for African Americans. Therefore, people belonging to the white race and other cultures were virtually excluded from such trending topics and hashtags. Nonetheless, anyone could participate in the discussion because Twitter is an open platform; but their comments would be discordant with the rest of the African American conversations. The fact that Black Twitter ridiculed Drake and other African American hip-hop artists was because a large proportion of their followers are of African American origin. The growth of hip-hop music represents the cultural, emotional and social experiences of the African Americans such as their common African origins and the civil rights uprising (Rose, 2008).


Starting from the time when signifyin' began to be used in the social media, it has continued to serve as a tool for social criticism and in the sharing of racial experiences. For instance, African Americans that use Ebonics on Black Twitter perceive themselves as raced subjects who have been perceived as underdogs by the majority races. According to the researcher, a large majority of the hashtags that were analyzed in the experiment were employed for racial discourses and in the conveyance of decrypted or encoded information. Florini (2014) also noted that #BlacknerdsUnite was another African American trending topic. The above hashtag was used to criticize the long-held views and misconceptions regarding blackness. Based on the posts shared under the hashtag, the researcher noted that most of the commentators expressed their frustration that people from other races tend to view blackness from a racially biased perspective that is informed by misconceptions and misinformation. Most people consider Blackness


Deadline is approaching?

Wait no more. Let us write you an essay from scratch

Receive Paper In 3 Hours
Calculate the Price
275 words
First order 15%
Total Price:
$38.07 $38.07
Calculating ellipsis
Hire an expert
This discount is valid only for orders of new customer and with the total more than 25$
This sample could have been used by your fellow student... Get your own unique essay on any topic and submit it by the deadline.

Find Out the Cost of Your Paper

Get Price