BlackPlanet, one of the first social media hubs before the term truly existed, established itself early on as a gathering place for Black people looking to connect with their communities on a variety of fronts. With Twitter facing a possible shutdown, BlackPlanet is inviting users to reboot their old accounts or create new ones.
BlackPlanet was launched in 2001 by Omar Wasow and Benjamin Sun and it swiftly became one of the most popular destinations on the Web despite not being owned by Black people. As part of the Community Connect ecosystem, the site co-existed alongside MiGente and Asian Avenue, all serving the respective communities as suggested by the URLs although each site was open to users of all backgrounds.
In full transparency, Hip-Hop Wired is owned by Urban One, Inc. and BP operates under the same umbrella along with other media properties. Urban One rebooted the site in recent times and has encouraged users to come on back home.
BlackPlanet is trending on Twitter at the moment and we’ve got reactions below.
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Photo: BlackPlanet / iOne Interactive
