Protestors block an intersection during a rally in Los Angeles, one day after a grand jury decision not to prosecute a white police officer for the killing of an unarmed black teen in Ferguson, Mo. (Photo: Robyn Beck, AFP/Getty Images)
First #ferguson, then #fergusondecision and #blacklivesmatter, and lately, #justiceforMikeBrown.
As
protests across the U.S. over the grand jury's decision in the Michael Brown shooting death extended into their second day, Twitter again showed how big a role the network can play in a breaking news story that lends itself to frequent visual updates from citizen journalists and one that's engendered intense discussion over police treatment of African-Americans.
A greater portion of blacks use Twitter than of whites, according to Pew Research.
Twitter estimates that more than 3.5 million tweets mentioning Ferguson were published in the three hours after the jury's decision was released.
"I typed in the hashtag Ferguson just to see what the chatter was this morning," said Dr. Janet Johnson. The University of Texas at Dallas professor was blown away by what she found.
"Every time I refresh Twitter, it's always 300 more tweets," she said.
About 52,000 tweets were sent per minute when St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch alluded to the Twittersphere.
"The most significant challenge encountered in this investigation has been the 24-hour news cycle and its insatiable appetite for something, for anything to talk about," he said Monday night.
On Tuesday, other hashtags and related searches were also picking up usage, including #fergusondecision, Darren Wilson, and #blacklivesmatter.
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