“When It Comes to Social Media, Are Black People Being Treated Like Rats Inside a Skinnerean Operant Conditioning Box?” by Jermaine Thomas

Black people have been figuratively transformed into hungry rats and confined within a Skinnerian operant conditioning box. They are rewarded (e.g., the rat receives food; Blacks receive monetary rewards or increased exposure on social media) for exhibiting behaviors desired by the experimenter (e.g., demeaning themselves, sharing ‘ratchet’ content on social media, etc.). Conversely, they are punished (e.g., the rat experiences electric shocks, Blacks face shadow banning on social media) for engaging in actions disapproved of by the experimenter (e.g., seeking liberation, sharing content related to Black liberation online). And who, you may wonder, is the experimenter in this scenario concerning Blacks? The answer is the system of White supremacy and its purveyors.

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