{"id":655491,"date":"2013-05-01T14:38:12","date_gmt":"2013-05-01T18:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paidcontent.org\/?p=228797"},"modified":"2013-05-01T14:38:12","modified_gmt":"2013-05-01T18:38:12","slug":"whats-trending-on-twitter-among-african-americans-the-roots-new-tool-will-tell-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/655491","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s trending on Twitter among African Americans? The Root\u2019s new tool will tell you"},"content":{"rendered":"

Social media studies suggest that African Americans use Twitter more than other group in the U.S.\u00a0– 26 percent compared to 19 percent of Hispanics and 14 percent of whites. Now, news site The Root<\/a> has launched a tool that curates leading black voices on Twitter and shows the most popular ideas and trends in the community.<\/p>\n

Called The Chatterati<\/a>, the tool relies on algorithms and a hand-selected database of thousands of influential Twitter users — including entrepreneurs, academics and celebrities — to display popular news, hashtags and retweets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a digest of what\u2019s going on on Twitter among African Americans. That\u2019s why we built it,” said Donna Byrd, publisher of The Root, in a phone interview. “The\u00a0other benefit is it quickly identifies key conversations, which informs what we write about and how we craft stories.”<\/p>\n

For The Root, which competes with sites like theGrio<\/a> and the HuffPo’s Black Voices,\u00a0The Chatterati could provide a leg up on breaking news stories. This week, for instance, Byrd said the news of NBA player Jason Collins’ decision to come out as gay trended among its users before it did among Twitter at large.<\/p>\n

The tool, which\u00a0sits atop Twitter’s API, could also be a magnet for marketers looking to target African Americans. Twitter, which has been\u00a0known to cut off services <\/a>that threaten its own revenue stream, is for now okay with The Chatterati, according to Byrd.<\/p>\n

The tool itself\u00a0went live this week and has categories like “top hashtags,” “top retweets” and “our favorites,” where The Root staff curate Twitter highlights. Byrd said her team is still working out a few bugs, but that The Root will continue to expand its database of the most influential black Twitter users.<\/p>\n

Byrd said the tool’s primary purpose is to help The Root readers, who are not on Twitter all day long, and quickly discover what’s trending.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a need for a black Twitter per se. It\u2019s an opportunity to have a view of what\u2019s going on in a subsection of the broader community.”<\/p>\n

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