Opinion: Clip Culture And Paid Campaigns Are Threatening Black Creator Communities

Black creators and Black-owned businesses are being targeted online to fuel chaos.

Written by Brandy Star Merriweather

The aftermath of The Streamer Awards was a microcosm of what has been happening behind the scenes to Black professionals in the creator community. Although there were small microaggressions that sparked recent conversations, there has been a domino effect of more misleading social clips and rumors that have been able to fuel a clear divide. This is the result of the very damage and self-inflicted, perpetuated trauma that continues to undermine and destroy the progress we’ve made.

I believe Black creators and Black-owned businesses are being targeted online to fuel chaos, increase paid incentivized online engagement, and destroy our community. After a year of observing ‘clip’ servers, TikTok pages, and X pages that post recurring false information–- I was able to spot patterns. Some of the same accounts are fueling rumors and narratives that damage our community and its successful leaders.

Controversial social conversations always have a better chance in becoming a trend due to consumers’ heightened emotions, but when the same pages, with the same sponsors are leading the false narratives and out of context clips-– when will we realize we are being used and socially manipulated?

This year it’s no secret that Black creators have risen to a level of stardom and priority that has changed how we consume traditional content. Young stars like Kai Cenat, Zoe Spencer, Brooklyn Frost, IShowspeed, Reginald, and more have kept millions entertained this year. These creators and their platforms represent versions of Black excellence. Their Live storytelling has the power to teach, inspire, and impact generations around the world. Relationships are only maintained if direct communication and clarity is given internally. If not, we start to see a shift in these creator’s dynamics online and offline due to social narratives, the creator’s communities, and outside opinions telling the creators how to think toward each other and Black owned businesses.

This is not new-– in 2020, “Racist Jokes, Microaggressions, and Tokenism in the Influencer World” was written by Lindsay Dogson, where she highlighted stories from creators who were vocal about their experiences with their peers and their communities online and behind the scenes. We saw a pattern of powerful creators using their platforms to ostracize Black creators.

Today, we see the same systems. New businesses have risen in the creator economy, powered by inexperienced bros who are working together to build monopolies by gaining investments, vastly acquiring companies, and excessively using the names and work of Black creators. We are seeing the mental health of those very creators decline as they suffer in silence, being used in a broken system they have been accustomed to being a part of.

With the increase of AI, these systems are only getting quicker, louder, more manipulative, and impactful. As consumers, we have to be conscious and make rapid systems to support each other even more. It’s clear our community has been targeted, and the only way to change this is to unite more to debunk false online narratives, protecting each other when we can, and seeking direct clarity with one another offline and online.

One of the primary drivers of this manufactured chaos is the emergence of engagement-based platforms and third-party aggregators that profit directly from outrage. These systems are intentionally designed to amplify controversy, particularly when it involves Black creators and Twitch stars because the emotional volatility surrounding our community produces higher clicks, higher shares, and higher ad revenue.

Studies on digital engagement models have shown repeatedly that negative content—especially content centered around conflict or moral panic—spreads 60% faster than neutral information. This is the exact reason “clip farms” and aggregator pages often cherry-pick moments, strip away context, and publish distorted narratives. The more inflammatory the interpretation, the more the algorithm rewards it. What’s even more alarming is that some of these accounts share backend networks, sponsorships, and financial pipelines, meaning they rely on coordinated sensationalism to remain profitable. The result is a digital ecosystem where misinformation about Black creators is not accidental—it’s incentivized, reacted to, and profitable.

This evidence underscores a critical truth: the divide we are seeing is not organic conflict arising from the community itself but a manufactured cycle created by those who benefit from our fragmentation. When profit is tied to controversy, Black creators become recurring targets, and the trauma experienced within the community is perpetuated at scale. This directly aligns with the thesis that Black creators and Black-owned businesses are being strategically targeted and socially manipulated for engagement and revenue to benefit their competition.

A second factor fueling this harmful dynamic is the lack of representation and cultural competence within the companies and teams that profit the most from Black creators’ success.

As the creator economy expands, investment firms, management agencies, and tech startups are entering the space with little understanding of the cultural nuances and community ties that shape Black digital expression. Many of these entities are led by individuals who have never collaborated with, supported, or uplifted Black creatives prior to recognizing the financial value of their influence. This often results in exploitative business practices—using Black creators’ images for pitches, collecting inflated percentages through predatory contracts, and strategically positioning them as “front-facing diversity” while withholding meaningful power behind the scenes.

The significance of this evidence is clear: when institutions lack cultural understanding or diversity in leadership, they inevitably mishandle the communities they profit from. Their decisions—whether intentional or rooted in ignorance—reinforce the same patterns of tokenism and emotional labor that Black creators have fought against for years. This directly connects back to the thesis by illustrating how systemic exploitation, not simple miscommunication, drives the online chaos that harms our community.

Some might argue that the online controversy surrounding Black creators is simply a reflection of normal internet discourse—messy, fast-moving, and fueled by passionate fans. They may say that every creator, regardless of race, faces misinformation and drama. While that may be partially true, it overlooks the disproportionate scale, frequency, and consequences faced by Black creators. The data patterns, repeated targeting, and coordinated amplification reveal that this is not random engagement—it is a systemic issue. The harm is deeper, the stakes are higher, and the long-term impact on careers, mental health, and Black-owned businesses is significantly more severe. Ignoring this context minimizes the real, measurable manipulation happening behind the scenes.

The evidence is unmistakable: Black creators are being deliberately pushed into cycles of digital conflict and misinformation, not because of who they are, but because their cultural impact generates profit for those who exploit it. This manipulation threatens the health of our community, the futures of rising stars, and the integrity of Black-owned businesses that deserve protection—not distortion.

If we want to shift this reality, we must build intentional unity, challenge false narratives in real time, and prioritize direct communication over algorithm-fed assumptions. The lack of positive “clip” server systems and social armies to counter the negativity is doing us a disservice. The call is simple but urgent: protect each other, verify before you amplify, build media, and refuse to let manufactured chaos define our community’s future.