Wendy Jane Grossman delivers a humorous piece at her blog, Wendy Jane's Soul Shake, about a white woman who explores black Twitter. "I started feeling like a lurker, who was just trying to be cool by being a part of something I can't really be on the inside of because … I'm not black. But, that's my own guilt tripping self."
I still consider myself a relative newcomer to the world of Twitter, joining just four months ago. I joined after attending the Grub Street’s writers’ conference workshop panel on Twitter. Presenters, Rebecca Schinsky and Kevin Smokler recommended it as a way to connect with others, not just for author self-promotion, but to build "real" virtual relationships with people who share the same interests as you.
"How do you find people on Twitter?" I asked them.
They replied, "you start following people who are talking about things you’re interested in, and you will find your community" …
Still I felt like something was missing. And, then it happened. I had my "duh" moment and realized I should follow people who are talking about race. So, I started to follow some of the on-line magazines like Colorlines and The Root, and people like author of How To Be Black, Baratunde Thurston, and anti-racism activist, Tim Wise. I also started following actress, and writer, director/producer of the webcast series, Awkward Black Girl and Ratchetpiece Theater, Issa Rae.
Read Wendy Jane Grossman's entire piece at Wendy Jane's Soul Shake.
The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.
