Charlie Puth drags 'black boxes' posts, says it encourages white silence

[LilyLark 9,694]

10 minutes ago, Jose P said:

I get his point. I know many people doing it are truly wanting to help and have good intentions, but a lot of this black box posting feels so performative. But I mean it’s social media, social media activism is mostly performative and a lot of times disingenuous. This just seems to me like something to save face and make yourself look good, like “hey look, I’m not racist, look at me supporting!”

Yep. I absolutely agree the people doing it have the best intentions, but it comes off a little...performative. Same with a lot of the corporations suddenly going BLM.

*I'm glad Gaga posted other things before participating & it's an industry wide thing (aka 90% of the people in the music industry are doing it)...otherwise I'd be worried she'd get dragged.

[joannesrats 26]

3 hours ago, M Monstre said:

I don't really understand this argument.

It's not like people haven't been spreading around information, signing petitions, donating, going to protests, etc.

This is literally the first time I've seen him talk about anything related to BLM. He shouldn't be talking. 

The problem is is that, like a lot of other members have said, the people that are doing this haven't said one damn thing about BLM before. They just see all these people doing it without thinking about why. They are putting up a black box for a day and then moving on without sharing any information, without actually educating the people around them and using their voice. It's slacktivisim at its finest.

[LateToCult 36,402]

A blackout on social media is useless and we’ve already seen multiple people complain that using the hashtag #Blacklivesmatter with the blank post has only clogged an important source of information for many black people.

[Blastertoyo 22,728]

1 hour ago, Brecht said:

Ok but my IG timeline is just black boxes and no information whatsoever. It makes no sense to flood the timeline with the same thing, how the hell are we supposed to see important information if it all gets lost?

 

1 hour ago, Ally Campana said:

I agree with him. Especially when many people used the hashtag ‘#BlackLivesMatter’ instead of ‘#BlackOutTuesday’ for it and now instead of updates about the protests, when you click on the BLM hashtag, it’s full of black boxes. Who comes up with this sh*t? Posting donation links instead of a black box would’ve helped so much more just like some suggested. But yeah, people are dumb. Wbk.

Now it’s 30% people posting using #blacklivesmatter, 30% using #blackouttuesday, 30% asking people to change their #blacklivesmatter and 10% doing whatever else

[melon 3,298]

yep so many people I know are doing this and I haven’t seen them show any interest in BLM or donating or signing any petitions or marching 

I hope some are doing so privately but my ex for one is richer than I am and has just posted the square and only that

I haven’t posted, instead I’m reposting useful books/links to donation pages/interesting videos I find on my story because I think more people might watch my story than see a post one time that everyone is doing!  I also find it performative than anything else 

[herassisfamous 1,321]

4 hours ago, Marilyn MonHoe said:

 

How do you share information if you are blacking out tho lol

[SLAG 7]

5 hours ago, M Monstre said:

I don't really understand this argument.

It's not like people haven't been spreading around information, signing petitions, donating, going to protests, etc.

This is literally the first time I've seen him talk about anything related to BLM. He shouldn't be talking. 

Don't be ignorant sis! Everyone should be talking.

[Adakam 2]

As long as the blackout doesnt include the sharing of news and information regarding the situation then its a good way of rising awareness, but many teens will only see it as a trend to jump in. 

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

2 hours ago, herassisfamous said:

How do you share information if you are blacking out tho lol

Post the blackout pics but don't use a hashtag, or just one so its not clogging up the hashtag feed

[TortureMeOnReplay 5,030]

4 hours ago, BangTheGong said:

It’s just a day. The purpose to is make room for black voices, ideas, art and information. We as a collective are pausing our own individual art and content to help amplify the the voices/art of black people. It’s a day of education and reflection started by 2 black women in the music industry. 

How does it make room for it if it's taking up space? Then just don't post.

[Dayman 5,903]

   He's not entirely wrong. These black boxes have buried useful information about protests and fundraising from appearing on timelines and making the resources harder to find. Not to mention they also create a wall of posts that conveniently makes the odds of a black box appearing greater than the odds of a video showing whats actually going on at these protests. These black boxes equate to a pat on the back for posting it for one day and saying "I did my job, no more posts!" while also saying really nothing at all and potentially harming visibility for ways to help and videos and photos showing the reality of the situation. Posting links and messages of how to HELP is a stronger piece of solidarity than a blank image with nothing attached to help. We can't sit here and post a blank image once and think we have done our job and hang the coat up after that, there is more that needs to be done than that.

[KORG 4,756]

So now we've had a blackout for a day, do any of you recall any stories that came out through socials today in aid of the cause or to protect black people?

No, you dont. You remember being fake woke online by posting a black square to erase the current reality.

This is a real issue. Some people really think adding more haystack makes the needle more prominent? 

[BangTheGong 310]

21 minutes ago, justhislife said:

How does it make room for it if it's taking up space? Then just don't post.

It’s an act of solidarity and if many people are doing it others will notice which increases awareness. It’s also a good idea to include information in the caption or in subsequent posts with links to petitions and places to donate. You can also use the hashtag #amplifymelaninvoices for black folx which are using that platform to spread their art, ideas and information. It’s been communicated to not use the blm hashtag and instead use the tag blackouttuesday. Yeah, seems like the sentiment of some is that this is just a useless platitude, but others in the black community are appreciative of the support so it’s up to you if you want to partake or not. 

[Gagaloo911 12,959]

I get where he's coming from but idk if it's the way he worded it or what, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[KNJ 4,170]

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/blackout-tuesday-posts-drown-out-vital-information-for-blm-protesters-1008917/