Young, Black, and ***Insert who you are here***
During an interesting conversation today the topic of “Young, Black, and…” sites came up and how many of these sites do we really need? How minute can it be before it becomes irrelevant, or does relevancy of a site with Black in its name ever die simply because of the niche nature of the internet today? A simpler and more direct question may be “How many of these sites will be developed before it gets old?” Maybe it never gets old since web users are in general younger in age, or a completely different and possibly more accurate take on it:
Maybe these “Young, Black, and ….” sites accurately represent who the typical Black web user is more so than any study or survey produced. Think about it…those who consume these websites and those that produce them probably spend a higher amount of time on the internet. They are engaged and why wouldn’t they be, they are “Young, Black, and Whatever site they are on at the time.” They are likely loyal and I would bet have a higher overall HHI (Household Income) than average Blacks in general. Of course the nitty gritty of the demographics would depend on the site and truthfully we could speculate the demographics all day. What I really want to know about and I think what is most interesting is this “YB…” phenomenon.
What do you think:
Do we need more “YB…” sites?
Is this something that is already old? or…
Do “YB…” sites reflect who we really are online and offline?
May 7th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
To be honest I’m lost… Break it down… Are you talking about sites for young educated blacks looking and desiring the finer things in life? A steping stone to being called Bougie or something?
May 8th, 2008 at 7:31 am
I think the “Young, Black, and…” sites are being created to fill a void left by the media. With the sites that I know of the … is usually something positive or at least neutral. At the end of the day most of these sites are aimed at the young,black and educated. We are the part of the culture that the world does not know. We are the middle child, the media shows blacks as either old civil rights leaders, young thugs or square sellouts. To be honest I think that these sites are needed and should be promoted until the world and our even younger generations (currently in high school and middle school) realize that you can like Lil Wayne AND be a doctor,lawyer or engineer.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
@MrAfrica, That is not at all what I mean. Honestly I am wondering what the readers of BW2.0 think about these sites and if they think they actually reflect who the average African-American web user is? TomBoutus put it very well, likening “us” to the middle child in a family.
@TomBoutus, Very interestingly and eloquently put “We are the middle child, the media shows blacks as either old civil rights leaders, young thugs or square sellouts.” I know when I was growing up I didn’t know or know of any “hip” lawyers, doctors, ect. Though there may have been many that is not the social status I associated those people with.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Ok then Angela… Big sista is a lawyer…
May 8th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
The sites are due to a major void in the media that does not connect with this demographic.
Also, they are not just Young, Black (…..) many of the readers are older (the Young Black (…..) + 10-15 years.
May 10th, 2008 at 12:23 am
I don’t think there can ever be enough of them, actually. Especially since many of them will die off as time goes on with the attention span of people today.
They definitely fill a huge gap when it comes to the images and opinions of us in the media.
May 25th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
the thing about most black entertainment blogs is that there are way too many of them. There will be shake-out at some point as interest wanes from the people behind them.
The readers though — i agree are all across the board — my 57 year old mom is a big fan of a couple of them