How an Everyday Twitter User Launched the Campaign That Obliterated Juror B37's Book Deal in Three Hours

The power of social media strikes again.

After learning that Juror B37 had signed with a literary agent to shop a tell-all book about her experience during the George Zimmerman trial, an everyday Twitter user launched a campaign that convinced the agent to nix the deal, Yahoo News reports.

And Genie Lauren, whose nickname is "Cocky McSwagsalot" and Twitter handle is @MoreAndAgain, got it done in three hours.

(Credit: GMA)

Here's how it all happened—from her initial outrage to her online petition to the agent dropping the book deal to Jimmy Fallon show drummer Questlove's "thank you"—with Twitter telling the story from start to finish:

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Credit: Twitter)

(Related: Four of Juror B37 fellow jurors have distanced themselves from her statements.)

Juror B37 soon announced she was abandoning the book idea:

I realize it was necessary for our jury to be sequestered in order to protect our verdict from unfair outside influence, but that isolation shielded me from the depth of pain that exists among the general public over every aspect of this case. The potential book was always intended to be a respectful observation of the trial from my and my husband’s perspectives solely and it was to be an observation that our "system" of justice can get so complicated that it creates a conflict with our "spirit" of justice. Now that I am returned to my family and to society in general, I have realized that the best direction for me to go is away from writing any sort of book and return instead to my life as it was before I was called to sit on this jury.

Also of note is a digital force informally known as "Black Twitter," which has been gaining attention lately (especially since African American Twitter users heavily commented on Paula Deen's past racist statements).

Lauren, after her campaign against the book deal ended, tweeted a link about the phenomenon that seemed to aid her efforts:

(Credit: Twitter)

The author of the Buzzfeed piece notes that "black folks on Twitter aren’t just influencing the conversation online, they’re creating it." In addition:

If you’ve been following the Trayvon Martin case from the beginning, you might remember that almost no one was following the Trayvon Martin case from the beginning. Martin was killed on Feb. 26, 2012. Two weeks later, the Sanford, Florida, police turned the case over to the state, but it was six weeks before Zimmerman was charged with the death. Outrage bubbled up from Twitter and Facebook before the case crossed any national news desks.

Black Twitter is, loosely speaking, a group of thousands of black Twitterers (though, to be accurate, not everyone within Black Twitter is black, and not every black person on Twitter is in Black Twitter) who a) are interested in issues of race in the news and pop culture and b) tweet A LOT.

Here's Lauren's interview with Good Morning America Tuesday about her successful Twitter campaign:

--

[related]