TY - CHAP
T1 - From Black Twitter to Musk's X
T2 - A Case Study in Rhetoric, Media, Culture, and Power
AU - Hardy, Alisa
AU - Salzano, Matthew
AU - Pfister, Damien Smith
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 selection and editorial matter, Nathan Crick; individual chapters, the contributors. All rights reserved.
PY - 2024/1/1
Y1 - 2024/1/1
N2 - This book chapter delves into theories of rhetoric, media, culture, and power through an examination of Twitter. We synthesize traditional theories of power focused on media ownership with more recent work on theories of power that focus on culture and infrastructure through the story of Twitter. Specifically, we address Black Twitter as a paradigmatic case about the possibilities of rhetoric, power, and digital platforms. We document creative rhetorical interventions on Black Twitter that were possible on the platform, before our narrative is complicated by dramatic changes to the platform with new ownership in 2022—and its eventual rebranding from Twitter to X. We explore how this powerful platform transformation reshapes possibilities for critical, situated rhetorical practice.
AB - This book chapter delves into theories of rhetoric, media, culture, and power through an examination of Twitter. We synthesize traditional theories of power focused on media ownership with more recent work on theories of power that focus on culture and infrastructure through the story of Twitter. Specifically, we address Black Twitter as a paradigmatic case about the possibilities of rhetoric, power, and digital platforms. We document creative rhetorical interventions on Black Twitter that were possible on the platform, before our narrative is complicated by dramatic changes to the platform with new ownership in 2022—and its eventual rebranding from Twitter to X. We explore how this powerful platform transformation reshapes possibilities for critical, situated rhetorical practice.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85209869126
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85209869126#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.4324/9781003430858-38
DO - 10.4324/9781003430858-38
M3 - Chapter
AN - SCOPUS:85209869126
SN - 9781032554693
T3 - Routledge Handbooks in Communication Studies
SP - 428
EP - 442
BT - The Routledge Handbook of Rhetoric and Power
A2 - Crick, Nathan
PB - Routledge
ER -