The death of Nolan Wells sparks outrage on Threads

“Let’s be clear: the state of Mississippi is covering up the murder of Nolan Wells,” one user wrote on @_taexoxo. The post was published two days after the Sept. 21 decision. The case sparked racial tensions and renewed national debate.

“This year, a grand jury handed down an indictment after the pool water turned green, but not when a Black child was found floating face down in the water!” comedian DL Hughley commented.

Why Threads feels like the successor to Black Twitter

Black Americans have never shied away from denouncing America’s racial hypocrisy. Twitter was an essential tool during the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in the 2020s. But the conversation about Wells highlighted something distinctive about Threads: The platform is emerging as a vital part of the Black social media ecosystem, sometimes rivaling the influence Black Twitter once held.

When I first explored the cultural reach of Black Twitter in 2021, I described it as “news and analysis, call and response, judge and jury, comedy showcase, therapy session, family cookout, all rolled into one.” Five years later, Threads has become its spiritual successor—a digital universe where conversations, no matter how ugly or awkward, are difficult to ignore.

As on Black Twitter, conversations on Threads frequently focus on the experiences of Black people. Users have discussed double standards involving age discrimination and the challenges Black women face when they become impromptu television commentators. They have also debated the new superhero thriller Lanterns, including one user’s description of it as the first science-fiction show “to feature a Black Chosen One and a white Magical Negro.”

Why Black cultural voices are leaving X for Threads

“Twitter’s heyday was during the Obama administration. Now we’re living through the second Trump administration. Having a place to laugh and not cry is as important as ever,” cultural critic and author Jamila Lemieux, who has 208,000 followers on the platform, told WIRED.

Lemieux had discussed motherhood and women’s rights on Twitter for more than a decade. Over time, however, the harassment and vitriol became more difficult to outweigh with positive interactions, prompting her to take a break.

Twitter’s tone changed significantly in 2022 after Elon Musk acquired the platform and renamed it X. For longtime users, the app’s functionality declined. It became harder to find the content they wanted, while hate speech and propaganda accounts proliferated and moderation appeared to disappear overnight.

“I’m not surprised that something like that happened. It was a very intentional shift away from the progressive Black voices that defined the platform in earlier history,” Lemieux said. She describes her current experience of posting on X as “a cry into the void.”

Lemieux has since moved to Threads, where she has become a frequent poster on topics ranging from singer Chris Brown to public and private education.

“I wanted to make social media my home again, but I wasn’t sure where I fit in. I’ve always preferred text over video when it came to creating work, and Threads gave me what I loved about Twitter: the ability to reach people in my own words without having to cherry-pick the visuals.”

Authors, activists and journalists are joining Threads

Some of the loudest cultural voices on X have also migrated to Threads, including authors, activists and journalists. Roxane Gay, activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham and journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones have all contributed to the platform’s ongoing cultural conversations.

Hannah-Jones’s recent New York Times Magazine essay about enrolling her daughter in a predominantly Black, low-performing public school sparked a heated online debate over whether children should be used to confront systemic flaws.

From racial justice and politics to entertainment, education and everyday life, Threads is becoming a home for the arguments, humor and cultural analysis that once defined Black Twitter.