The contemporary public WebSphere is consistently and constantly birthing new revelations. Like many other spaces, the public space of the Internet has defaulted to accommodate white Internet users. The most engaging platforms have been identified as social media sites that allow users to subvert the norm of the average Internet user in the public WebSphere. Access to multi-media presentations of information, ideas, and discussions, continue to produce endless amounts of content. Now, the Internet is more accessible to many communities of the public, and not exclusive to people in higher socio-economic status— attributing most of this change to the proliferation and commodification of the smartphone. Regardless of ownership of wireless internet or computers, with affordable mobile data plans and technologies, more diverse groups can engage in networking. With the increase in accessibility of the Internet through smartphones, and an interface designed for mobile use— more young Black Americans are using Twitter than any other population. Not only are the Black youth engaged, but also content creators. The counter public, “Black Twitter”, publicizes Black discursive activity which allows others outside that sphere to voyage into the identity and views of the community.

In the New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell says, “people with a grievance will always find ways to communicate with each other.” The plight of Black people in the United States feels unrecognized and ill-confronted by history and individuals alike. However, because the Twitter application is free and accessible from a mobile device, Black users can and have been capitalizing on the ability to gain political and personal agency through the use of the application. Twitter’s succinct nature allows members of the community to mold their communication to their liking, while also displaying their intimate rhetorical identification with others.

Using Foucault’s theory, Technologies of the Self, which discusses the interest in politics as a means of looking more critically how we understand self-care, and Andre Brock’s, Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA), I will analyze how Black netnographers use Twitter as a space to curate and foster a discourse as they relate to trauma and political resistance through humorous Internet Memes.