be useful

The issue of race is starting to get old (at least I hope it eventually will), but it is a good question to consider for the sake of discussion.

Beth’s Blog has a head start on the topic of the online color landscape that’s opened my eyes to a very new dimension of the Internet.

The question I was asked had to do with the demographics of social media.  How many people of color participate?   The question came from a diversity consultant while we were discussing how young people today are being brought up on social networks AND some statistics about age and email/social network use.  I referenced Liza Sabater’s Brown Bloggers meetups, but could not point to any studies or stats.   The consultant also pointed out that flickr photo I used seemed to indicate that the percentage are low.

So, once I got home, I put a question out to my Twitter network.  Here’s a roundup of what I learned…

The links at the end of the post are also worth the clicks*, especially the Chicago Tribune article Black activists go blogging in challenging status quo, which also touches on the influence of black bloggers on recent events and truth be told, deserves a post of it’s own:

The march through Jena, La., last September, which drew more than 20,000 demonstrators from across the country largely on the strength of a blogging campaign, demonstrated the potency of the new Internet movement, many analysts say—and the waning influence of traditional civil rights groups.

The verdict so far? The social web knows no color.

For some reason, that doesn’t bother me at all.

HT: TwitterThoughts

*I like links (especially good ones). A LOT.