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#2015: The Year Summed Up In Hashtags
2015 has been a busy year to say the least. Of course, because we’re in the future now, the best way to summarise the most pressing issues for people online nowadays is to look at the most used hashtags of the last year.
Below are the Top 5 most used Hashtags in 2015.
5) #IStandWithAhmed
On September 14th, 14-year-old Texan schoolboy, Ahmed Mohammed was arrested after a homemade alarm clock was wrongfully mistaken for a bomb. What followed was an amazing show of support by Twitter users around the world.
Within days, #IStandWithAhmed was trending on Twitter, and the young man received words of supports and invitations to events from the likes of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Mark Zuckerberg.
Ahmed and his family subsequently moved to Doha, Qatar where he has a scholarship to Doha Academy.
4) #RefugeesWelcome
The huge numbers of Middle Eastern people fleeing their homes saw the trend #RefugeesWelcome become a massive hit on social media. This was a show by the people of the UK and the rest of the world that they stand with those who have been displaced by violence and poverty in the Middle East.
This trend ended up coinciding with real life protests and movements - like the ‘Refugees Welcome Candlelit Vigil’ in November - ensuring that everyone knew of what was happening to helpless, homeless people in places like Syria.
3) #MarriageEquality
With same-sex marriage being legalised nationally in both the United States and Republic of Ireland, it is no surprise to see #MarriageEquality high up on the top trending hashtags of 2015 list.
Barack Obama’s tweet after the announcement of the legality of gay marriages, was one of the most retweeted messages of the year, showing the huge importance of the #MarriageEquality movement.
With the idea of gay marriage a hot topic this year, we took a look at the Top 10 gay-friendly countries in the world.
2) #BlackLivesMatter
According to Twitter, the ‘Black Lives Matter’ hashtag has been used over 9million times this year, and they said that what started as a hashtag has now ‘come to represent a social movement’.
There have been numerous rallies and demonstrations across the United States this year under the banner #BlackLivesMatter, trying to raise awareness to the fact that black people are still being discriminated against in America.
There have also been rallies under the same banner campaigning against the unlawful use of brutality by American police used especially on black people - campaigns which high-profile names such as Quentin Tarantino have showed their support for.
1) #JeSuisParis
After the horrific terror attacks in Paris in November carried out by Islamic State, the world rallied together to show the people of Paris that they are with them. The trend #JeSuisParis ( ‘I am Paris’) rose from the ashes of the earlier trend, #JeSuisCharlie, supporting the journalists at Paris-based publication, Charlie Hebdo, who died after another terror attack in January.
Equally as popular was the trend #PrayForParis, which was born after the same attacks.
This solidarity was, for sure, an amazing show of support from the global community. This support has not stopped however, there are still many ways to help out the victims of the attacks, and we have them outlined here.
To conclude, it is fair to say that 2015 has been a year where the global community has pulled together and united under banners they feel are worthy for support. The running theme of these trends seems to be equality; something which we should definitely be living with nowadays. Equality of sexuality, equality of race, equality of religion - they should all be at the top of the list of priorities for anyone wishing for a better, more peaceful world, and the Top 5 hashtags of 2015 prove that through pulling together, anything is possible.
