As a newly minted user of tumblr I am learning a great deal about the mass mini genocide of my brothers (black men) throughout the country, particularly between the years 2006-2012 in which a white police officer killed a black person at least twice a week, http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-harris-perry/watch/the-deaths-of-black-men-in-america-318795331819. Some of the recent Tumblr posts I have been seeing on this historic atrocious sociopolitical phenomenon largely revolve around the shooting death (murder) of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri  on behalf of a "scared" white officer #Ferguson. I think there is no doubt that as capitalistic and economically exploitative as the internet has become, the social media Eco-system has been a surprisingly great platform for black people to critically and transnationally discuss the racist institutional and ideological experiences, we experience DAILY in this country. I mean the fact that a tumblr user could effortlessly comprise a list of  UNARMED (as though being armed means an officer can be your judge and jury and executioner, side bar - why is the death penalty even still around) black males in different regions of the country in differing age brackets who have been killed by police is astounding. That list translates to a discussion academia would have about historic systematic oppression of people of color in any Africana/Latino Studies department course.
One of the more insightful educating experiences I've recently viewed in the eco-system (twitter, tumblr, and too a lesser extent facebook) in relation to the events in Ferguson is the City Council hearing that occurred about ten days ago, where residents and towns folks  led a non-violent protest in City Hall holding up their signature #handsupdon'tshoot signs . Tumblr reflects how dependent the eco-system is upon all its entities. I viewed blog posts directly from residents posted on their personal twitter pages about their sentiments on the hearing through Tumblr. I witnessed a post that where spectators at the hearing where up on their feet shouting" #ArrestDareenWilson: 
  handsupunited retweeted

Matt Sczesny KMOV @KMOVMatt  ·  Sep 16

Crowd chanting , "Arrest Darren Wilson" at St Louis County Council meeting. #kmov

As Payton and Kvansy (2012) iterate, black people are becoming more users of social media (facebook, twitter, instagram, tumblr,etc) to transnationally share the events "related to black interests and experience." Some trends I've witnessed in examining the issue of #OccupyFerguson on social media platforms has been the exposure of the political capital those directly involved (i.e Mike Brown's parents, Travyon's family and community) are trying to accumulate. Many videos and photos posted on these sites show Brown's father and mother at speaking at protests and in front of local news stations that will cover the issue. I'm interested in comparing the raw discourses and experiences of the citizen journalists from Ferguson and other parts of the country to our mass media machines.