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Articles on hashtags

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The male cast of ‘And Just Like That’ — Chris Noth on the far right — pose before the show’s premiere in December 2021 in New York. (Shutterstock)

And just like that … #MeToo changed the nature of online communication

The popularity of hashtags like #MeToo speaks to society’s increasing embrace of important issues like sexual assault and harassment
Erik Anderson/AAP

#IStandWithDan, #DictatorDan, #DanLiedPeopleDied: 397,000 tweets reveal the culprits behind a dangerously polarised debate

It only took a relatively small number of Twitter accounts to get hashtags #DictatorDan and #DanLiedPeopleDied trending. And “bots” weren’t really a part of the story.
Jon Tyson/Unsplash

Friday essay: Twitter and the way of the hashtag

From its beginnings as a geeky tool to deal with a fragmented information stream, Twitter made the hashtag a new and powerful part of the world’s cultural, social and political vocabulary.
A sign outside Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, B.C., explains visitor restrictions to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Conspiracy theorists are falsely claiming that the coronavirus pandemic is an elaborate hoax

Hospitals have requested that people avoid non-emergency visits, and conspiracy theorists are posting images of empty parking lots online as false proof that COVID-19 is an elaborate hoax.
In 2015, Canadians across the country organized in support of Syrian refugees arriving in the country; these rallies were planned online. (Mike Gifford/flickr)

Leading an online social movement requires offline work

Online social movements are not leaderless. On the contrary, leadership duties are often assumed by identifiable individuals committed to doing leadership work.
Participants at the Montréal Pride Celebrations a decade ago. Researchers say there is an overemphasis on muscular and ‘masculine’ bodies in gay communities. Shutterstock

10-year Challenge reveals femmephobia in gay communities

For many gay men, social media and dating apps are hotbeds of body image struggles and rising toxic masculinity – the recent ‘10-year-challenge’ on Instagram showcases this femmephobia.
Twitter and other social media platforms may not be lost entirely to the political partisans and propagandists. Shutterstock

Twitter isn’t just for political hashtag warriors. Many still use the social network to just hang out

‘Phatic sharing’ reclaims Twitter as a truly social network, rather than simply as a source of breaking news or a place for public debate between politicians, journalists, and activists.

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