Black Twitter's influence on Hollywood explored by Dr. Sherri Williams

Dr. Sherri Williams, a professor at American University, has released her book, ‘Black Social Television: How Black Twitter Changed Television,’ which examines the influence of digital collectives on media representation.

Williams highlights how Black Twitter has functioned as a mechanism to disrupt Hollywood’s traditional gatekeeping. She cites the 2017 controversy surrounding the HBO series ‘Confederate’ as a primary example. The project, developed by the creators of ‘Game of Thrones,’ proposed a premise of slavery operating as a 21st-century corporate enterprise.

In response, activists including April Reign, who initiated the ‘#OscarSoWhite’ movement, argued that such a reimagining of white supremacy was unnecessary given the contemporary social realities in the United States. Digital activists utilized existing television viewership windows to steer the conversation away from the program and toward critiques of its premise.