Welcome to Twitter, a world all its own. It is a place where you can get mini updates from celebrities every fourteen seconds, right beside your mom's attempts to figure out this whole "social thing". It is a magical, bizarre and often surreal place filled with strangers who somehow feel that it is crucial to tell the world about the sandwich they just had. A tool with endless functions that has been a driving force in the "Internet Famous" phenomenon.
The implementation of the hashtag, which originated on IRC, is a big reason behind the popularity of Twitter. It is a useful way of both searching the site and tagging posts. On a more personal level, hashtags are used to emphasize points or even make jokes.
Sometimes, they are even used in ways that make you fear for the future of humanity. Here are six hashtags you won't believe are real.
1. #Susanalbumparty
Susan Boyle exploded on the scene in 2009 after auditioning for Britain's Got Talent. Her voice shocked the world, and she became an internationally known singer with her first album topping the charts. Yes, I said 'album', not 'anal bum', which is what it appears her marketing team missed. Either that, or they were intentionally drawing attention to a fake mistake. Either way, it did what it was meant to do and got a lot of attention.
2. #DescribeThatSmell
This one could be totally innocent. But since this is the internet we are talking about, I am going to guess it is used for less savory purposes. Just reading this hashtag makes me think of the worst smells imaginable. But I don't really feel like describing any of them, so let's move on.
3. #RoadkillRecipes
Mm, doesn't it just get your mouth watering, folks! If you ever wanted to know how to properly cook a tire-flattered skunk into a stew, or grill petrol spiced possum steaks, you have a hashtag to help you find out. I am getting hungry just thinking about it.
4. #funniestlinesfromSchindlersList
I cannot even think of something to say about this. Every time I try, my brain just sort of falls back into a loop of "What? What? What? WHAT?" For those reading this, please feel free to not put lines from Schindler's List in the comments. Thanks.
5. #FreeSandusky
For those who don't know, Jerry Sandusky is the retired assistant coach for the Pennsylvania State football team. He is also a horrible human being and a serial child molester who founded a club for at-risk youth that he then abused. For decades. I don't think freeing him should be on our list of priorities.
6. #cut4bieber
This one caused a major stir not too long ago. Justin Bieber, Canadian poster child for all that is wrong with music, was caught on film smoking marijuana. The infamous trolls on message board 4Chan decided to take the opportunity to mess with his prepubescent fans. They began posting pictures of Twitter alleging self harm, and posted it with the hashtag #cut4bieber, and variations of the same. While the fact that they made light of cutting caused a lot of anger, the fact that it seemed to actually encourage some other fans to do it themselves was what really sparked controversy.
Have some examples of hashtags gone wrong? Let us know in the comments!
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