![]()
The people of Twitter are collectively freaking out about Twitter.
The dramatic hashtag #SaveTwitter started picking up steam on Wednesday, with people speculating the platform plans to shut down in 2017.
SEE ALSO: Olympic gymnast is body shamed, Twitter fights back
The hashtag was originally used on Tuesday during a Twitter outage, which wiped out the followers of every user. The incident only lasted a few minutes, with follower counts quickly rectified, but #SaveTwitter had already begun.
The first tweets using the #SaveTwitter hashtag were mocking the #SaveMarinaJoyce hashtag, with tweets asking for Twitter to send a sign it isn't in trouble. Marina Joyce is a British YouTube star, who became the center of an internet rally when people became concerned for her wellbeing. Many people believed her YouTube videos showed signs she was being held captive or being abused, all claims which she has since continuously refuted.
Due to the trending nature of the #SaveTwitter hashtag, it was easy for individuals to jump into the stream and create rumors fueling the hashtag further.
A guy who claims he is a famous YouTuber, BradTheLadLong, sent out a tweet insinuating he was the reason that Twitter was closing its doors. He was, of course, making the whole thing up. (Yes, everyone relax.)
This same user is a known Twitter hoaxer. He was also behind online claims that One Direction star Louis Tomlinson was not going to be a father — which was later proven incorrect, when the singer announced he was a dad.
To pile onto Brad's message, a user by the name of Cameron, who claimed to be a freelance journalist, posted a fake press release on Twitter. It stated that Brad had stored every hate message he had received on the platform and Twitter was forced to close down.
Although it was clear the entire thing was made up by Brad and Cameron, it didn't stop the Twittersphere doing what it does best. As was the case with Marina Joyce, within hours the hashtag #SaveTwitter was trending globally, with it currently boasting more than 2,000 new tweets an hour, according to RiteTag.
As tweets started mentioning online abuse and Twitter's poor handling of such things, other tweets begged for Twitter to reconsider its decision. The uncredited quote: "Twitter is gonna be shut down in early 2017 because bullying" was attached to tweets with the #SaveTwitter hashtag.
Such rumors are easier to get traction due to some high-profile Twitter users being subjected to bullying on Twitter in recent weeks. Leslie Jones, the SNL star and Ghostbusters actress, had enough of trolling and left the platform in July (she then later returned). The ongoing abuse also got the Breitbart Tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos, who had continuously trolled Jones, banned for life.
Normani Kordei, a singer from the R&B group Fifth Harmony, also quit Twitter on this week because of abuse. "Over the last 48 hours I’ve not just been cyber bullied, I’ve been racially cyberbullied with tweets and pictures so horrific and racially charged that I can’t subject myself any longer to the hate," she said in a statement.
#SaveTwitter is an interesting look at how the platform works to spread information, whether it's right or not. It also shows how easy it is to bully people en masse on an open platform. Twitter has not responded to Mashable's request for comment. The Independent, however, confirmed there are no truth to the rumors.
