#HashtagDay: Celebrating Filipino Communities and Conversations on Twitter
Whether it’s shining a light on global movements and events, connecting people everywhere to like-minded communities or just establishing a direct path to the content you’re most passionate about, it all happens on Twitter thanks to the power of the global cultural phenomenon that has shaped the way we communicate: the hashtag. Born on Twitter in 2007, the hashtag celebrates its 14th anniversary on August 23rd, otherwise known as #HashtagDay.
People around the world continue to make Twitter their microphone and popular topics that dominated conversations on Twitter across Asia in the first half of this year were K-Pop and gaming. Most of the countries in APAC had at least one K-Pop related hashtags in their top 10 list in the first half of 2021 – from #BTS in Australia and Indonesia, to #bambam in Thailand. Another popular topic across the region was gaming, which saw hashtags like #GenshinImpact and #Nintendoswitch making the list.
To celebrate its impact in shaping important conversations and creating communities that unite millions of people across the globe, Twitter launched a #HashtagDay emoji that will be live for the day and available in multiple languages, allowing users across the globe to join in on the conversations.
Filipinos have used hashtags to connect to like-minded communities and shape culture or conversations that matter to them most on Twitter – spanning from art to entertainment. As we celebrate this year’s #HashtagDay, here are the top three topics that have kept Filipinos talking in the first half of 2021.
#WhatsHappening around the world
Significant events and moments may happen at the same time. Through hashtags, Filipinos can easily join and learn about the conversation whether it’s a local or global topic. For example, people around the world are joining the #stopasianhate movement to protest the increasing violence against Asians amid the pandemic. Filipinos also show solidarity and concern for fellow Asians and kababayans abroad by using the hashtag to amplify their support. The said hashtag was Tweeted more than 500k times in the Philippines.
Despite the delays, Filipinos’ support and excitement for the Miss Universe never wavered as they used #aribarabiya to cheer for Rabiya Mateo as she represented the country in the international pageant scene.