Amid the unpredictability that 2020 has brought us, social media trends continue to bring a bit of humor to the table. Here are some of this week’s most popular hashtags and trends on Twitter and TikTok.
Vice President Mike Pence had a lot more than politics on his mind during Wednesday’s debate with Senator Kamala Harris. The internet came roaring with memes after a fly landed on his head – and remained there for two minutes!
On Twitter, @BVPcomedy wrote, “All the flies in my house are going nuts rn about their buddy getting on tv.”
Another user, @ElloSteph, posted a picture of a fly and tweeted, “Not all heroes wear capes #VPDebate2020 #fly2020.”
Some of the other popular hashtags being used were #FlyGate and #FliesForPence. Even days after the meme surfaced, Twitter users were still consumed by the content, churning out hundreds to thousands of tweets mentioning “Pence fly” every minute.
Freshman Alexa Potamianos watched the debate live and said that the fly stole the show.
“You couldn’t focus on anything he was saying,” she said. “All you saw was the fly, and all I could think about was how the internet would blow up over it.”
Another student, Emily Demarino, said she noticed new Twitter accounts being made solely to post about the meme. Other accounts were made claiming to be the fly, tweeting about the experience of being on live television.
Rapper Quavo also caught the spotlight on Twitter after sharing the cryptic first message that he sent to his girlfriend, fellow rapper Saweetie, allegedly winning her over. The couple has now been dating for two years.
Fans of Quavo tried mimicking his virtual pickup line by sending a snowflake emoji, allegedly being a reference to Saweetie’s hit single “ICY GIRL.”
One tweet from @Nabzzino said, “Quavo started off a trend with sliding in with a snowflake emoji, difference is he has money and you don’t.”
Even the Washington Wizards took part in this trend, sharing a snowflake emoji and tagging Quavo with the comment, “We’ll let you know how it goes.”
Freshman Christian Tropeano thinks that Quavo got lucky with his pickup line, saying that not many celebrities would be won over by the snowflake.
“I would need a little more than, like, a snowflake emoji to get someone like Zendaya’s attention,” he said.
Trends on TikTok also took off this week.
The hashtag #Artober gained popularity with over three billion videos thus far. Artists use this hashtag to showcase their spooky artwork with the community, usually having a Halloween tune in the background. Some of the most popular videos had drawings of pumpkins, monster inspired makeup, and animated Halloween videos.
“I think TikTok is a really good platform for people to kind of have a big hit video without being a hude celebrity,” said freshman Kristen Harder when asked about the hashtag. “It’s easier for people with less of a following to gain recognition.”
With National Coming Out Day falling this past Saturday, #ShowYourTrueColors on TikTok has brought together members and supporters of the LGBTQ+ community online. Celebrity Cyndi Lauper kicked off the trend with an encouraging video, and soon after, millions of others joined in sharing their stories and support.
Lauper later uploaded a themed lyric video to her classic song “Time After Time” and announced that #ShowYourTrueColors will become a campaign sponsored by TikTok and the True Colors United nonprofit organization.