Current Events > #BlackoutTuesday movement seems a bit... self-defeating.

(+) Yeah! (+)

For those unaware, basically people are halting all social media presences and only posting big black squares to show solidarity for the day.

I understand the point and the message and the motivation, but on the flip side, social media is singlehandedly responsible for raising awareness to Floyd's death in the first place. Not to mention also being a source of sharing the massive amounts of unwarranted attacks taking place during these riots (Louisville bar owner, Omaha store owner, etc.)

Does that make sense? Removing the platform that raises awareness to all these travesties seems to defeat the purpose of the message.

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Yeah, there are a lot of criticisms I'm seeing of it to this end.
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I think they're trying to do what some websites did for Earth Day and the internet censorship day but like... it's not gonna work, too little people

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Im a little confused on this. I get not using the #blm or #blacklivesmatter hashtags if you do a blackout post, but why isnt it ok to do #blackouttuesday? People searching for blm will still see blm posts.

it's actually about taking time out of your day to stop promoting/posting about yourself to:

1. raise awareness of black lives matter
2. donate to local causes
3. read up on how racism affects black people

than just nothing posting a black square with a hashtag

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Parappa09 posted...

than just nothing posting a black square with a hashtag

See that's the problem, I don't think people are doing much more than that. And also tagging BLM/BlackLivesMatter on Twitter/IInstagram meaning if you search for that tag, you'll get a bunch of black squares.

Called BLMEducation or something. I dunno I mean, it just doesn't seem really thought out with the name is all.

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Yeah it moreso comes off like a weird virtue signal than any sort of real helpful action.

Granted, I don't think the black square profile pics are necessarily all that different or worse than what many were doing before. Social media always seems to have a tinge of self promotions to it even when you're posting about a massive public issue that needs addressing.

I generally feel people should be actively sharing information, but not in a self promotional way. Don't post pics of you donating to the food shelf or cleaning up the rioted streets. Post information that makes it easier for others to contribute as well. Share information on when and where cleanups will take place or when and where food can be dropped off.

If you're sharing information on how others can help then it is assumed you helped and no you don't need a pat on the back for it. No one cares about getting likes.


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It's something people can easily do to feel like they did something of value without actually doing anything

Parappa09 posted...

it's actually about taking time out of your day to stop promoting/posting about yourself to:

1. raise awareness of black lives matter
2. donate to local causes
3. read up on how racism affects black people
than just nothing posting a black square with a hashtag

Looks like everyone on my feed doesnt know this because all they're doing is posting the black square, not even with the hashtag in all of them.

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using the #blacklivesmatter hashtag supposedly makes it harder for activists to find info

DarthAragorn posted...

It's something people can easily do to feel like they did something of value without actually doing anything

#inactivism

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Parappa09 posted...

it's actually about taking time out of your day to stop promoting/posting about yourself to:

1. raise awareness of black lives matter
2. donate to local causes
3. read up on how racism affects black people
than just nothing posting a black square with a hashtag

This is true, but it's being coopted by celebrities and people who want to do the bare minimum to feel good about themselves. Also the hashtag isn't a good one (#BlackOutTuesday) because it can easily be confused as going silent.

I think the original hashtag was better #TheShowMustBePaused

A lot of people are saying it is from anti-BLM people and I see it, if you look up the hashtag you just get black and not the crimes that are going on that are hurting innocent protesters .

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As an fyi, the #BLM/#blacklivesmatter thing has been addressed. It's being spread around to just use #blackouttuesday for the reasons mentioned in this topic.

Would a better idea not have been to post some facts? Like innocent black people shot by the cops or something and just not post on social media for the day?

I'm not sure what the point of the black box is to represent. I know I'm looking into this too deep but I'm curious.

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ZTT888returning posted...

Im a little confused on this. I get not using the #blm or #blacklivesmatter hashtags if you do a blackout post, but why isnt it ok to do #blackouttuesday? People searching for blm will still see blm posts.

The majority ARE tagging BLM without realizing, so people are inadvertently getting information censored for them lol

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Parappa09 posted...

it's actually about taking time out of your day to stop promoting/posting about yourself to:

1. raise awareness of black lives matter
2. donate to local causes
3. read up on how racism affects black people
than just nothing posting a black square with a hashtag

CreepySmile posted...

Would a better idea not have been to post some facts? Like innocent black people shot by the cops or something

Thats been going on every single day

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shockthemonkey posted...

Yeah I did it as a show of solidarity but it does feel more like virtue signaling compared to all the posts filled with news and links on how to help things.

If youre following these people and looking at stuff normally then youll see posts with news and links have been going up every single day, all day long, by so many people.

my entire Instagram feed for instance right now is blacked out, not even 10 hours ago when I was going to sleep it was nothing but those posts about news and links you talked about up there (well, and butts but Im sorry for being a human) and now theyre doing something else to show their support.

instead of trying to figure out what a better post would have been, why not do some supporting or researching on your own and help this cause instead of just saying well I dont quite like how theyre showing their support today on social media so Ill think of other ones and then just move on.

this wasnt meant towards you directly ... shock, so my bad if you took it that way. Not the literal you if I used that in my post

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Wasn't aware this was a thing, explains why IGN hasn't updated their site for 13 hours.

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