The #Hashtag Mania

New Delhi: We are just three days into the New Year and the hashtag fever is dominating social media freaks who just want them to be found among thousands.

In the opening of this year hashtags ruled Instagram and other social networking sites. Hashtags like #style #swag #fashion #pretty #instacool #instamood #iphonesia #bestie #selfie #me was seen all over the web in 2015.

The hashtag war in 2014 saw social media bugged with tags from #Friends #Fun and #Party to #sohappytobewithher #Sheistheloveof mylife #Tagsforlikes #Intaclick #Instalover #weareonourhoneymoon and multiple others that went on and on… #Urrgggg #Stop #It #Please!

Here are top 10 hashtags that dominated 2014.

10. #AlexFromTarget: Alex, a 16-year-old checkout boy, shot to fame when his picture was tweeted by a British girl with the Twitter handle @auscalum and the caption “YOOOOOOOOOO”, which has since been retweeted and favourited thousands of times.

He gained over 500,000 Twitter followers in one day, and tweeted “Am I famous now?” in his disbelief at his new-found situation. He has since appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

 

9. #TanSuit: President Obama, likely knowing full well that stricter fashion rules go into place following Labor Day, wore a tan suit to a press conference on Thursday.

The typically navy-blue clad POTUS’ fashion choice shocked Twitter, and naturally, they reacted en masse. The #tansuit hashtag quickly began trending in Washington, D.C.

8. #YesAllWomen: #YesAllWomen is a Twitter hashtag and social media campaign in which users share examples or stories of misogyny and violence against women. First used in online conversations about misogyny following the 2014 Isla Vista killings, the hashtag was popular in May 2014, and was created partly in response to the Twitter hashtag NotAllMen.

YesAllWomen reflected a grassroots campaign in which women shared their personal stories about harassment and discrimination. The campaign attempted to raise awareness of sexism that women experience, often from people they know

 

7. #UmbrellaRevolution: Hong Kong students were protesting for more political freedom and have been using umbrellas to protect themselves from police pepper spray. The umbrellas became a symbol of the movement and gave it its nickname, the Umbrella Revolution. Though protest leaders say their campaign is not a revolution but a civil-disobedience movement, the name Umbrella Revolution has stuck.

 

6. #WhyIStayed: The video of famous NFL player Ray Rice hitting his now-wife, Janay Rice, prompted some folks on Twitter to question why she stayed with him.

Beverly Gooden, a survivor of domestic violence, took to the social media platform to address what she considered comments that were “very victim-blaming.”

On Monday, Gooden tweeted, “I tried to leave the house once after an abusive episode, and he blocked me. He slept in front of the door that entire night. #WhyIStayed.”

 

5. #WorldCup: The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the tournament for the association football world championship, which took place at several venues across Brazil. Germany won the tournament and took its fourth title, its first since the reunification of West and East Germany in 1990, by defeating Argentina 1–0 in the final – the same result as the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final.

 

4. #BringBackOurGirls: In the middle of the night on April 15, more than 300 girls were kidnapped from their school in Chibok, Nigeria. While the horrific crime—carried out by Islamist militant group Boko Haram—went largely unreported for nearly two weeks, you’ve probably heard a whole lot about the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

 

3. #IceBucketChallenge: The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving dumping a bucket of ice water on someone’s head to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and encourage donations to research. It went viral on social media during July–August 2014. In the US, many people participate for the ALS Association, and in the UK, many people participate for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, although some individuals have opted to donate their money from the Ice Bucket Challenge to other organizations.

The challenge encourages nominated participants to be filmed having a bucket of ice water poured on their heads and then nominating others to do the same. A common stipulation is that nominated participants have 24 hours to comply or forfeit by way of a charitable financial donation.

 

2. #IAmMikeBrown: Recent grand jury decisions not to indict police officers in the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown have sparked protests across the US, from the streets of New York City to Los Angeles.

Calls to protest for civil rights go back decades with iconic slogans such as, “I Am A Man” from the Martin Luther King Jr. era. These slogans have bled into new calls for change and peace today.

 

1. #AllLivesMatter: A quote from the African American revolution #BlackLivesMatter was changed to #AllLivesMatter to promote equality in the USA.