#BringBackOurGirls & #RememberingMandela Makes List Of Africa's Top 15 Trending Twitter Hashtags In 2014
#BringBackOurGirls
On April 15th, 273 school girls were kidnapped from the Chibok Government Secondary School by Boko Haram Islamic militant group in Nigeria. The hashtag #BringBackOurGirls became a global social media rallying cry to generate attention for the girls. Sadly to date none of the young women have been rescued (though a few escaped), despite the extensive Twitter campaign that went viral.
#FreeAzyz
In May this year, Tunisian cyber-activism icon Azyz Amami and photographer Sabri Ben Mlouka were arrested by police and charged with cannabis possession - a charge they both denied. The arrest caused an outcry in Tunisia, his supporters claiming the arrest was politically motivated. Azyz is one of the young bloggers associated with the uprising in 2011 and is widely known for his political activism, which got him imprisoned under former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Social media exploded and #FreeAzyz was soon trending. Both Azyz Amami and his friend were released following a dismissal ruling in their favour a few days later.
#MyDressMyChoice
In November in at least three incidents, mobs of Kenyan men publicly attacked and stripped women wearing skirts, claiming they were “inappropriately” dressed. This prompted a march through downtown Nairobi by hundreds of people, protesting the assaults across the country. The hashtag #MyDressMyChoice soon began trending in Kenya - and was picked up by other activists around the world - as social media was set alight by those who demanded that women have the right to dress how they want without being harassed or attacked, while others criticised what they deemed inappropriate dress.
#JollofGate
Jollof rice is a favourite amongst many West Africans. So when British chef Jamie Oliver published his “interpretation” of the recipe for the much-loved dish on his website, West Africans were outraged. The conversation moved from comments on his website, criticising his whole use of vegetables and tomatoes, to social media where #JollofGate began trending. This is not the first time social media users have targeted a Jollof recipe. Last June the supermarket chain Tesco removed its Jollof rice recipe from its website after complaints on Twitter said it had nothing to do with the real thing.
#AfricaStopEbola
Some of Africa’s top musicians launched an alternative Ebola appeal song to Bob Geldof’s Band Aid’s new recording of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”. The profits went to Medicins Sans Frontieres’ efforts to fight the virus that has killed more than 7,000 people in West Africa this year. The launch of the song coincided with #AfricaStopEbola trending with many repeating the lyrics which are meant to educate Africans about the disease, as well as giving hope.
#Orwell
In Egypt a student was arrested at Cairo University. The police said it was because he was filming without permission, but the initial report in the Al Masry al Youm newspaper claimed that he was arrested for carrying a copy of George Orwell’s novel “1984”. The twitter-sphere jumped on what they saw as a connection - comparing modern-day Egypt to the dystopian world created by the British novelist and #Orwell began trending.
#MousserContreEbola
In September, Cote d’Ivoiriens launched their version of the ALS ice bucket challenge. They asked people to “Mousser Contre Ebola” or “Lather Against Ebola” - demonstrated through videos of them pouring water on themselves and soaping up. An initiative, which spread through the trending of #MousserContreEbola, designed to encourage good hygiene and awareness of how to help prevent the spread of Ebola.
#IDreamofANigeria
In celebration of Nigeria’s 54th Independence Day on October 1st 2014, Kaymu, an online marketplace, developed #IDreamofANigeria, an online campaign through social media platforms.The campaign requested Nigerians to take to social media and share their dreams and aspirations for Nigeria - it went viral.
#ThingsLongerThanPistoriusSentencing
South African athlete, Oscar Pistorius, was sentenced to five years in prison for shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013. According to legal experts, he is expected to serve 10 months behind bars and the remainder under house arrest.
The verdict by Judge Masipa who ruled that a non-custodial sentence would send the wrong impression, but a long sentence would not be appropriate because it would appear to lack mercy, resulted in outrage. Tweeps launched the #ThingsLongerThanPistoriusSentencing - the results were mostly hilarious comparisons, and demonstrated the incredibly lenient jail term.
#PayBackTheMoney
South African president Jacob Zuma came under severe scrutiny this year when a damning 400 page report said he profited “unethically” from public funds. So when Julius Malema, the leader of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters, a South African political party, in August asked President Jacob Zuma when he would pay back the money during a parliamentary session (as recommended by the Public Protector Thuli Madonsela in her Nkandla report), it set Twitter alight. #PayBackTheMoney and #WeWantTheMoney led to front page headlines in almost in all the newspapers in the country the following day. They also dominated radio, television shows and online discussion forums.
#DeadBeatKenya
#DeadBeatKenya was a trending hashtag born from a Facebook group created to hold accountable negligent fathers and mothers, featuring detailed stories and photographs of the abandoned partners and children. Dead Beat Kenya was catapulted because of its openly shocking and shaming nature but also because it featured local politicians, celebrities, businesspeople and even famous athletes.
#RememberingMandela
The hashtag #RememberingMandela was created to show reverence and allowed fans to pay their respects to the great South African leader a year after his death, on December 5. Twitter caught fire with the hashtag which was filled with his quotes, great feats and messages of appreciation.
#EvilNanny
Suspecting that his nanny was abusing his toddler, Ugandan father, Eric Kamanzi, set up a hidden camera in his living room. The result was a horrific video showing his nanny beating and standing on his little girl. The video circulated on social media and went viral - it was shared on Twitter with #EvilNanny and it became a catalyst for debate in civil society about child raising in modern Uganda.
#ThingsIloveaboutSouthSudan
Following a renewed outbreak of violence in South Sudan in December last year, the country was plunged into chaos which resulted into the deaths of thousands of people within a few days, and the displacement of millions. #ThingsIloveaboutSouthSudan was launched as a way of reintroducing positivity, reminding the world that the country is not all about conflict, into the increasingly dire dialogue on South Sudan. Tweets went viral and included things like the food, local customs and the hospitality.
#JusticeforHanna
The name Hanna Lalango was mentioned in the Ethiopian Reporter Amharic edition for the first time on November 16, 2014 - despite her ordeal taking place in October. She was a 10th grade student who was kidnapped, gang-raped and eventually lost her life. The local media’s reporting on the case was shockingly low, demonstrating the lack of dialogue on gender-based violence within Ethiopia. As a result #JusticeForHanna was launched, driven by a community determined to bring her rapists to justice and a statement that young Ethiopian women should not and could no longer tolerate gender-based violence.
- MgAFrica
