Mel Hopkins

@TroyI don’t think you know how twitter works ... I asked but you didn’t answer. I have to literally look for his tweets in trending topics -NOT every trending topic. And if you look at anyone’s tweets and know enough about Twitter - you definitely know who is going to end up in Twitter Jail. But you don’t know enough about twitter for us to have this debate - i’d have to spend too much time explaining it to you. I’ll just say this he doesn’t show up in my twitterfeed because no one I follow follows him. I see every thing you do on twitter because I turned on your notifications -so if we are on at the same time - I can retweet, comment and like what you ever you do on twitter.. You can say blue pill or red but take it to heart because these social media networks are mirrors of us and the folks we hang with.

Exactly! So, stop doing it! Making generalizations about something as personal as an algorithm that requires personal input is ridiculous. Like life, it is ALWAYS going to return different results for each person. I’ve been teaching since I was 15 3/4 when I got my first job as a camp counselor. But I suspect that’s not what you were looking for...So stop... If your lesson plan consists of downloading a social media app; uploading a big booty woman -in one day then concluding that you can’t sell books on the app - it doesn’t matter if you’re a tenured professor. Your students are better off taking a class with Kylie Jenner. At 21, she’s figured out how to become a billionaire selling make-up. Oh wait... the algorithm was set up so she could make money because of her famous sister with great assets.. is that correct? 🙄 I registered my first domain in 2001... I’ve been online since 1997... When we still had to type in numbers to find certain web addresses. I want to say my first account was with netscape but I think that was actually my second one.. i’ve had more websites than I care to admit ... and I was a media marketing cofounder of a very popular tech startup (2006), that we grew our audience to 100,000+ We started on myspace took it to facebook then to a standalone lifestyle digital publishing platform. We did this while hosting a weekly live 2 hour broadcast on blogtalkradio.com where we’d interview celebrities and business mover and shakers. Our show remained in the top shows on blogtalkradio for nearly two years (2007 - 2009) In fact, you were probably in school when I started working in broadcast media. I was uploading news packages and downloading feeds via satellite coordinates to and from CBS newspath and CNN Newsource — I was writing scripts, voicing and producing 30 minute newscasts -and short documentaries AND putting them online” in 1999... It was just a larger production back then... So while I only know a little HTML (adv beginner) and may not know how to code; I doubt if you know much more than I do when it comes to mass media, digital publishing, social media, the “internets” et al because this isn’t my first tech rodeo. OH WAIT! I’m a “certified” SeedTech Instructor! For two years, I taught basic computing and internet skills to adults in the USDOJ Weed & Seed target area in WV! lol! Don’t test me... @Troy 😄😄😄

@Troy, no I don’t. Do you know how Twitter works? I only see his tweets when I go into trending topics. That’s when I see how he provokes folks. As for 45, I muted him when he was elected. The only time I see his tweets is when I watch. “Deadline” I don’t follow Farrakhan but I do follow 2 women who follow him. I had to mute one of who seemed enthralled by his rhetoric. But she has since calmed down. See how that works? We can decide who and what we see.

Thank YOU! Exactly!!! I still don't know why some folks are surprised Farrakhan got the boot. I can't believe Hidden Colors Tariq Nasheed is still on twitter. 😄

Ok Pinocchio, clearly neither can you...so there's that. Maybe in the book of @Troy ..but also check in a book on behavior... If there's no inclination there's no influencing. You see big booty women because you are attracted to them. AND you have a habit of making it about "THE SYSTEM" ... However there is only US in a two person conversation - and there's only our experiences. They indicate what is going on in YOUR world/ My World . We can not prove what others experience because we are not living their lives. Now bringing up anecdotal "evidence" to share YOUR worldview is a waste of everyone's time. It doesn't change the fact that YOU are providing INPUT to get the OUTPUT. No one else. If you're going "teach" a lesson about Instagram - please at least say it's your experience.

@Troy No software program; pimp; drug dealer or advertising can influence behavior that doesn't exist. You seem to want to blame everything on outside factors. Before it was the billboards in the 'hood that influenced black folks to drink beer and smoke cigarettes ... Now you go on Instagram set up an account and it's their business practices that promoted a woman's big booty in your feed - a WOMAN that you decided to follow. It's amazing how it's never your decisions that cause you to be at odds with something ... Instead it's the system. A system that only seems to affect you. But then you think the rest of us are clueless because we recognize cause and effect LOL ... OH wait that's right! You don't believe in free will nor cause and effect either. MKay. 🙄

Again... porn has NEVER turned up in my feed on Twitter either... Wow @Delano ! I think you may be on to something 😮

@Troy You know I don't know you as well as the "internets" does. It is an example I used to illustrate the definition of the algorithm. It wouldn't have been as effective if I used the name "tom" ... 😁 But you make me laugh. You sound like my mother who believes if she doesn't do online banking or check her medical records - the information isn't available about her. So yes, delete the app, but that's like removing the mirrors from your home because you don't want anyone to see how you look. How you appear to the advertisers isn't going anywhere. The only way you can get away from these privacy bandits is to go off the grid period. Remove yourself from the system. No credit cards, no television, no voting, no banking, no cell phones, nothing electronic that is collecting data...And then only you'll know about how you feel about big booty women.

@Pioneer1 a mother responsible for the financial well-being of her children is not a matriarchy. Nor does that qualify as a social/political/financial system. It's simply called survival. For matriarchy to exist it would have to be a social system. At present one does not; nor has ever existed. Even in the UK with Queen Elizabeth currently reigning, it's still a monarchy not matriarchy. But back to my original point' since the Tuareg Tribe still maintain a lot of their socio- cultural system - it is easy to trace their activities to some Africans who live in America. If I didn't make myself clear - I was specifically referring to some African American women and how they CHOOSE to live that mirrors the Tuareg Women. As for the Tuareg tribes, their history reveals they are indigenous to Africa - but this brings us back to appropriation . I'm hoping this thread will shed light on what is unique to Africa and what we brought with us - not some european historian saying the Berbers were "white"...Sure we've always married other ethnic groups - but that doesn't change who is indigenous to the land. Tuareg tribes exist in egalitarianism-matrilineal model of culture. NOT patriarchal which is a social political system that's been in place for about 15,000 years; a lot of it due to colonialism. As for Alpha "men" I don't even know what that means. If you're making a comparison to wolves ...that report has since been discredited because the "researcher" only observed wolves in captivity but not the wolves who are free. It appears when wolves are enslaved they become aggressive - and go crazy. They attempt to dominate something or someone since something or someone is dominating them.

@Troy those algorithms are based on OUR input - There's no purpose to put a woman in your feed if the algorithm doesn't expect for you to remain on the app. You've taught the program that you will be titillated by a scantily clad woman and thereby will remain on the app to see some ads. Algorithm - A step by step procedure for solving a problem or accomplishing some end. Troy has show a proclivity for big booty women . A photo of a big booty woman will hold Troy in rapt ... Troy will remain on the app to see more big booties but the program will throw in some ads about where Troy can spend money to get more big booty women. It's not rocket science. Change your behavior; your Instagram feed will change too.

It appears you’ve decided what appears in your feed. You’ve chosen to follow her. Who we follow dictates what we’ll see . Kai has 62 likes and she posted 1 day ago. If you logged in at 1020 PM then your timing put her right at the top of your feed. if you logged in this morning, it is possible her photo was still the most popular so you’re going to see it. Aside: (NY TIMES is currently running a series “The Privacy Project” on privacy (or lack thereof) The algorithm is based on our own behavior. Intrusive? Yes. but definitely it’s our world reflecting back at us. Instagram’s business model is advertising - so was there an ad under that photo? 😄

Yes, You are following Kai Storm! I went to your page to see your follow list... it makes sense for her to post photos like that, though. She writes Erotica! Now you can feature her in your talk so she can get some sales! Sure bash instagram but please only for the right reasons!!

@Troy That’s NOT how instagram works! Maybe you didn’t realize you’re following that account. Check your follows - the only time you’ll see accounts that you don’t follow - is sponsored feeds. Like this one .

@Delano, yes, I knew that about consider! But disaster too? Interesting!

Erm, @Troy What the heck do you have on your phone? NOT ONCE have I ever seen a sexually suggestive image on instagram! Ever! I’ve had the app for more than a year or two... here’s the image I see when I opened the app .

ok one more... and that's it!

@Pioneer1 have you ever heard of the Tuareg tribe of North Africa? Well, Today, some African American women model that culture when it comes to marriage and family structure. I suspect they may not even know it. The Tuareg tribe is indigenous to the region and some cultural anthropologist believe they were the original Moors. I say this to repeat there was not ONE culture in Africa but many. As I mentioned to @Chevdove another purpose of this thread is to see how those cultural artifacts came to America to define African American culture... Keep in mind, The Tuareg tribe does not follow a matriarchal system. And that's important to note because some folks believe Africans were matriarchal at one point in history but there's no evidence that matriarchy ever existed anywhere in Africa's social system. I think they confuse it with Matrilineality which did and does exist. The Tuaregs are a matrilineal tribe. Matrilineal system is something you'll find throughout many cultures including the First Nation here in North America, Middle East's Hebrews, Jews; parts of Asia including India, and the African continent et al So stretch your mind a bit - For example, although offering water to strangers is something I do - even those who work in my home; it is also a cultural trait of the Tuareg Tribe. I also believe that is something unique to the African American culture. What if we started that? And that's why separate water fountains in Jim Crow south was symbolic. - Something as benign as offering water to strangers might just be uniquely African and widespread throughout the continent - and used against us here in America. @Troy I look forward to checking this out. I often wonder if one tribe co-opted ISIS, HORUS, OSIRIS - or if they just believed the same thing but in different ways.. Ethiopians believe Jesus is God - whereas the Roman Catholics believe they are a separate entity. Their church name "Tewahedo" means "being made one". I agree appropriation exists but we are talking about tribes with different languages and / or dialects back in the day. They could have all simply worshipped the Sun, Moon, Constellations and then anthropomorphized all of it …and that's what Africans could have brought to America (Kanye shrugs).

@ChevdoveI know crop diversity in farming is absolutely is part of the african american culture! AND I'm not a farmer! But seriously all one has to do is look to the celebration of George Washington Carver's genius and know that he got those skills from mama an n'em!

@Cynique I’m over here trying hard to think of where else in nature is there nappy hair and I got nothing! Oh snap! Is it really just us and the sheep? 😂😂😂

@Chevdove Oh snap! So the plot thickens! You’ve seem the dance form from South Africa! That may be its origin! Thank You! And yes, I was so used to the memory of my Nana’s dancing that I failed to connect it to Stepping! When I found the youtube clip, it all connected! Yes! Bring it! I appreciate your definition of culture too and all that it entails! I know some of AA cultural traditions are survival tactics as a result of being in a hostile territory but lets celebrate all of what is uniquely African in America ... @Troy are there any books on this topic?

😄 buck dancing is ours ... which all popular dances flowed - my Nana used to buck dance like nobody’s business and my mom said the real skill is when you kept a bottle between your knees while doing it...

I agree. But to be clear Christianity is from East Africa. The first “Christian” church - Tewahedo Orthodox began in Ethiopia in 4 AD Egyptians (Canaanites) at the other side of the Nile were polytheist. Some would later become monotheists. I don’t think the majority of the Africans in the North ever worshipped the Hebrew God of Abraham or Jesus

@Chevdove I’m happy to have the answers go in any direction they need too! This is extremely interesting to me. My primary query is about Africans in America - specifically African American culture and cultural traditions colonial and post colonial America. Some of us arrived here in colonial America because we chose to - “Free Negro is the British legal term. Some of us were enslaved in the post colonial America brought from West Africa to the United States. Some of us arrived in the north and lived there for generations. Some later joined the northerners after enslavement ... We came from different parts of Africa bringing with us a lot of traditions from our native countries that were passed on and remain with us today... So this is why I mention African (ascendants) in America... and what did we bring to America such as teaching the inhabitants how to diversify their crops and farm the land.

@Chevdove Although, I’m out of the mainstream media and politics; - I will always do my best to shine the light! 😊

What is culture and cultural traditions that are unique to Africans (ascendant) in America? I hear some folks complain about cultural appropriation. But I’m not sure what we consider cultural isn’t actually assimilation. Without researching, I can think of a few things that are uniquely African American 1) buck dancing 2) gospel singing with 4 part harmony (the quartets) 3) drumming (djembe drums) 3) jazz music composition 4) scat / Rap / hip hop 5) trimming hair on the first friday of the new moon...observing & worshipping nature in general 6) seasoning foods with herbs and animal fats, 7) what else?