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Twitter Experts to Discuss 'Black Twitter' and Big Data at Arts Incubator

By Sam Cholke | June 23, 2014 5:11am
 Harper Reed and Kimberly Elise will talk about how Twitter is changing politics and the prominence of concerns of black communities.
Harper Reed and Kimberly Elise will talk about how Twitter is changing politics and the prominence of concerns of black communities.
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DNAinfo/Sam Cholke

HYDE PARK — Twitter experts will talk about how the social network has changed politics and culture at the University of Chicago Arts Incubator in Washington Park on Monday.

Harper Reed, who managed the tech side of Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign, will join Kimberly Elise, who is currently finishing a book on "black Twitter" called "The Bombastic Brilliance of Black Twitter," for a conversation about the social network.

"It's creating conversations that come from a cultural perspective and an African-American perspective that are not making it into the broader media," said Carlos Velazquez, a spokesman for the Illinois Humanities Council.

The conversation will start at 6:30 p.m. at the arts incubator, 301 E. Garfield Blvd., and will be moderated by Angel Ysaguirre, the executive director of the Illinois Humanities Council.

Velazquez said the conversation would also touch on how the collection of data from Twitter is being used by corporations and politicians.

"It's never really explained what big data is or how it's used," Velazquez said. "If was used by Obama in 2012 to find his audience and really target voters."

The event is free, and reservations can be made by visiting prairie.org.

The event is part of a five-part series by the Humanities Council called "Now What?" that asks prominent thinkers to talk candidly about contemporary issues.
 

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