Considering the political roles of Black talk radio and the Afrosphere in response to the Jena 6: Social media and the blogosphere

In this paper, we present the Black blogosphere’s discussion of the Jena 6 case to uncover how ethnic identity is performed discursively to promote social activism. Historically, African Americans have used radio for communication about critical issues, such as political elections, health care, education, economic development and civil rights. More recently with the growing popularity of blogs and other social media, there is evidence of a cultural shift toward democratization that allows dispersed and committed African Americans to collectively discuss pressing social issues of concern to their communities. Through an analysis of black blog postings reporting on the Jena 6 case, this case study chronicles the way in which black audiences responded to this news story. The findings point to critiques of dominant cultural meanings about race relations and racial injustice. In addition, our findings suggest that social media has become an additional medium that is effectively used by African Americans’ in their historical struggle for civil rights.