Instagram went dark today to observe, morn and protest the death of George Floyd, an unarmed man who was killed while in police custody.
Millions of users are sharing a black image with the hashtag ‘BlackOutTuesday’ in solidarity, but some are tagging the post with #BlackLiveMatter and although well-intended, activists say it is not helping the cause.
The black images are overloading the Black Lives Matter feed on the site, blocking other posts that provide ‘helpful information, resources, documentation of the injustice.’
Instagram has addressed concerns on Twitter with a post stating; ‘You can choose to edit your post caption to remove the #blacklivesmatter hashtag and your post will no longer be shown on the hashtag page.’
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Millions of users are sharing a black image with the hashtag ‘blackouttuesday’ in solidarity, but some are tagging the post with #BlackLiveMatter and although well-intended, activists say is not helping the cause
Mental health advocate and Black Lives Matter activist Kenidra Woods posted on Twitter: ‘It has come to my attention that many allies are using #BlackLivesMatter hashtag w black image on insta.’
‘We know that’s it no intent to harm but to be frank, this essentially does harm the message.’
‘We use [this] hashtag to keep ppl updated. PLS stop using the hashtag for black images.’
Woods included a video with the tweet of the Black Lives Matter feed on Instagram, showing most of the images were the black squares.
Mental health advocate and Black Lives Matter activist Kenidra Woods posted on Twitter: ‘It has come to my attention that many allies are using #BlackLivesMatter hashtag w black image on insta.’ ‘We know that’s it no intent to harm but to be frank, this essentially does harm the message’
When an image is posted with a hashtag it is automatically to a searchable feed, which people find using that same hashtag. The social media site took to Twitter to address concerns about the Black Lives Matter Feed being overrun by black images
‘When you check the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, it’s no longer videos, helpful information, resources, documentation of the injustice, it’s rows of black screens,’ music artist Kehlani explained on her Instagram story.
When an image is posted with a hashtag it is automatically to a searchable feed, which people find using that same hashtag.
The social media site took to Twitter to address concerns about the Black Lives Matter Feed being overrun by black images.
‘We’re hearing asks from the community that posts related to Blackout Tuesday use the hashtag #blackouttuesday, and not #blacklivesmatter,’ Instagram shared in a tweet.
The #BlackLivesMatter hashtag aggregates important information and resources for the community.’
The firm also noted that when #BlackLivesMatter is removed, it may take up to 10 minutes for the post to be deleted firm the feed.
Blackout Tuesday was started by music executives Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang, who hoped the music community would pause all business operations on June 2 ‘in observance of the long-standing racism and inequality that exists from the boardroom to the boulevard.’
The trend has been met with criticism, as many users have flocked to Twitter to share frustrations that this is the first time many people have shared anything about the Black Lives Matter movement
Some also addressed there there are more than 26 million posts in #BlackOutTueday, yet on 11 million people have signed the petition that calls for justice for George Floyd
Just like many movements, it made its way to other businesses, news sources and social media platforms.
The idea of the black posts is a user taking a vow to refrain from posting anything on the site that is not related to the cause.
The trend has been met with criticism, as many users have flocked to Twitter to share frustrations that this is the first time many people have shared anything about the Black Lives Matter movement.
Some also addressed there there are more than 26 million posts in #BlackOutTueday, yet on 11 million people have signed the petition that calls for justice for George Floyd.
Floyd was killed on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota when Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck until he lost consciousness – autopsies have since deemed the death a homicide.