Every year during the month of February, companies go above and beyond to show their appreciation for Black culture and talent. This past February, Google released a thought-provoking commercial during the Super Bowl, highlighting their most searched public figures, events, and notable moments- and they were all Black. TikTok has also joined in on the movement, and spent every day in February unveiling a collection of Black History Month stickers for creators to tag to their videos to showcase their pride, support, and love for the app's diverse and global community. Additionally, the video-sharing social networking platform hosted its first-ever Black Creator Summit last month, hosting 100 top and emerging Black TikTok creators for sessions and panels on content creation, career development, personal branding.
Facebook has empowered Black culture not only in February but all the other days in the year. Through its #ShareBlackStories initiative, Instagram employees at Facebook are telling stories about Black culture and impact in the world, in the office and on the platform itself. Through the hashtag, users can sift through content produced by incredible creators and take advantage of new creative tools like culturally inspired camera effects and custom templates. Instagram is also collaborating with BET through its #Advocates IGTV Content Series, showcasing a four-part series of stories from Black creators making an impact in the creative space. Facebook believes one way to keep up with the impact year-round is through employment and business opportunities for Black artists. The company utilized the talent of designer Laolu Senbanjo for Instagram AR Effects and photography from Brandon Ruffin for the Black@Instagram Employee Spotlight.
We at ONE37pm wanted to learn more about the impact and importance behind these initiatives at Facebook and Instagram, so we went straight to the team to learn more.