‘Challenge Accepted’: Why Women Are Posting Black-and-White Selfies
Cristine Abram, a public relations and influencer marketing manager for Later, a social media marketing firm, said that a video of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaking out against Representative Ted Yoho’s sexist remarks against her on the floor of Congress last week led to a spike in social media posts about feminism and female empowerment, which may have contributed to the latest round of black-and-white photos.
“That was the spark that led to the resurgence of the hashtag challenge,” said Ms. Abram. “It’s all to do with female empowerment. There was this hashtag that already existed to raise awareness around other large issues. Tapping into that allowed participants to gain traction a lot faster because the algorithm was already familiar with the hashtag.”
A representative from Instagram said that the earliest post the company could surface for this current cycle of the challenge was posted a week and a half ago by the Brazilian journalist Ana Paula Padrão.
Though the portraits have spread widely, the posts themselves say very little. Like the black square, which became a symbol of solidarity with Black people but asked very little of those who shared it, the black-and-white selfie allows users to feel as if they’re taking a stand while saying almost nothing. Influencers and celebrities love these types of “challenges” because they don’t require actual advocacy, which might alienate certain factions of their fan base.
