Black people spend so much of our time explaining the culture, sometimes we just need a place where we can relax and have fun together. For many of us, that place is Black Twitter. When everyone else is posting about Usher’s halftime show, or that crazy new Netflix series, we go straight to Black Twitter for the real tea. Yes, we know it’s called X now, but no matter what Elon Musk says, it will always be Black Twitter to us.
When something is this special and unique, it can’t be explained or analyzed. It’s just another amazing element of Black culture. Despite this fact, Hulu has a new three-part documentary that will attempt to do just that. Premiering May 9 and executive produced by Prentice Penny (“Insecure”), “Black Twitter: A People’s History” chronicles the influence of Black Twitter and gets insight from the personalities who’ve helped make it an essential part of the culture.
In a hilarious piece of meta marketing, Hulu released a teaser trailer for the project, and as you’d expect, Black Twitter immediately had thoughts on the doc.
The predictable craziness of the reactions was not lost on anyone, with one person posting, “The Black Twitter response to the Black Twitter doc is so very #BlackTwitter.”
One user questioned the intentions of the project, writing on X, “I’m struggling to understand who it will serve and benefit most beyond people that don’t need to be in our (cultural) business in the first place, including people thirsty to exploit Black Twitter.”
Many people noted how Black users made the app the influential platform it became, with one person posting, “#BlackTwitter was & is a lot of things; not all of which will be encompassed in a docuseries or film; but I’d be remiss if I didn’t say, Twitter should run us some money for how we popularized the app. You too Lon. Give it heah & don’t say nothin. #BlackTwitterHulu”
Another person wondered who exactly this docuseries is for, because it’s probably not us, writing on X, “This feels cringe in like an exploitative way. Like I feel like white people are the target audience because literally the ones that already get it, get it.”
A common complaint noted how the roster of media personalities and famous names featured doesn’t reflect the real Black Twitter, with one user writing on X, “if this is hearing from a bunch of celebrities or“influencers” than it completely missed the mark .. Black Twitter was built and is sustained by everyday Black folk.”
Penny responded to the discourse by laughing at the absurdity, writing on X, “I’d like to think after 20 years of holding the culture down, y’all would trust I got #blacktwitterhulu best interest in mind. But lowkey, I also love black Twitter mad hesitant and petty ‘bout it, too! LOL!”
Yes, it’s nerve wracking whenever one of these projects tries to boil down an unexplainable aspect of our culture. But all this drama could be for nothing as the documentary might turn out to be a fun look at an impactful part of our lives. Whatever it actually is, everyone needs to calm down and relax until the docuseries debuts.
“Black Twitter: A People’s History” premieres May 9 on Hulu.