When Communication Is Key – Honing In On Online Platforms Of Communication For Alternative Black America
The social impact that the internet provides its users opens doors (or Windows) for building a community which would otherwise struggle to connect. As a Mellon Digital Humanities Graduate Fellow, I have been given the opportunity to continue some of the digital work that I started prior to my admission to Vanderbilt University in 2015 and take it places that I did not think were within my grasp.
Entering Vanderbilt University’s Germanic and Slavic Languages Department as a doctoral student, I came with a background in not only German Studies, but also Popular Culture Studies. In an attempt to keep all of my interests engaged within my regular routine toward accomplishing my academic goals, I have been able to apply dedicated time toward the upkeep and further development of a forum-based website. The forum is geared toward the communication of blacks participating in what are considered “alternative cultures.” (A few examples of these cultures would be goth-, punk-, cosplay-, indie-, and nerd-cultures.) Offering members of these cultures with their own forum boards, www.AlternativeBlacksForum.com currently provides 7 different groups with the opportunity to discuss, seek and give advice, share information and experiences, and also distribute knowledge of events geared toward their culture(s) of interest! In addition to the forum, associative accounts have been made to connect Twitter and Instagram to the happenings of the forum and other projects which blossomed out of the website.
With the given opportunity to pencil-in reserved time to work on the Alternative Blacks Forum, I am able to keep up with not only the technological demands that come with being the creator and administrator to the website, but also further research the ways in which the Alternative Black community connects and shares experiences online. As a member of the Digital Humanities-Article-Writing working-group, I am currently working on an article which focuses on how online communing offers the alternative black female community with an opportunity to not only celebrate themselves, but also one another. Working with my colleagues in the Digital Humanities Center not only provides helpful workshops on online tools and software, but also the support and encouragement which spurs me on to continue digging deeper, researching further, and creating more for the sake of those who find websites like the Alternative Blacks Forum to be the beginning of a new wave of online communication – even if it manifests through a more simplistic, “old-school” platform. As the forum continues to gain momentum, it contributes to what is digitally available for dialog-based interaction in a world of “Tweets” and “Likes.”
-Cynthia Porter