As responses to George Floyd’s death go, #BlackOutTuesday was embarrassing

The black tiles posted online blocked other, more vital messages, a reminder that social media is not a force for change.

By blacking out their Instagram accounts with the #BlackOutTuesday black squares, they may have disrupted the sharing of vital information on what was actually going on this tuesday.

No matter the occasion, social media can always be relied upon to gaze deep into its collective navel. Whereas 24 hours earlier, users had been posting legal information, names of pro bono lawyers and bail funds, filming videos of wanton cruelty and abuses of power and other useful or important information, now they were shtum, save for the sanctimonious black squares of BlackOutTuesday.