As you’re no doubt aware, Twitter was in the news last night due to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, tweeting about North Korea. As part of his ongoing troll campaign against Kim Jong Un, Trump decided to use ahashtag that’s become known as “PotusMorsemashable.” The hashtag is a play on words referencing the movie “War of The Worlds,” where Martians use a code to communicate with Earthlings. Needless to say, people had a lot to say about Trump’s tweet. One thing that didn’t get much attention, however, was the hashtag itself. If you look at it closely, you’ll see that it’s one giant typo. That’s right: Trump tweeted out “#PotusMorsemashable” instead of “PotusMorsemash.” Twitter users wasted no time pointing out the mistake and using it as an opportunity to bash Trump even more. In short: Twitter users are having a field day with Trump’s latest typo-laden tweet.
The Hashtag
Twitter users have coined the term “PotusMorsemashable” to describe the president’s tendency to use the hashtag #potus when tweeting about policy or events. The term is not only scathing, but also inaccurate.
The president has used the hashtag #potus more than 2,000 times since taking office, but only a fraction of those tweets have been about policy or events. Most of his tweets are lighthearted and in reference to pop culture. For example, he might tweet about how excited he is for a new episode of Game of Thrones or ask his followers what they think he should get for Christmas.
Despite its name, the hashtag #potusMorsemashable is not actually very Morse-y. It’s more like a jumbled mess of letters that doesn’t make much sense. And even if it was Morse code, it wouldn’t be very effective because Trump’s followers don’t seem to understand it anyway.
Twitter users have joked that the hashtag is an attempt by Trump to disguise his low approval ratings by appearing busy and engaged on social media. But even if that were true, it would still be wrong for him to use the hashtag because it just makes his tweets look silly and unprofessional.
The Origins of the Hashtag
Hashtagging has become an integral part of Twitter, and many users use them to promote or discuss topics. However, the “PotusMorsemashable” hashtag created by members of Team Trump is a poor example of how to use a hashtag. The hashtag was used to promote a video that parodies President Obama’s speeches, and it was quickly removed after being criticized.
Twitter’s guidelines state that hashtags must be “useful for communication and search.” The “PotusMorsemashable” hashtag was not useful for communication because it was only used to promote the video. Additionally, the hashtag was not useful for search because it did not include any relevant keywords.
The Problems with the Hashtag
Twitter’s team Trump’s “PotusMorsemashable” hashtag is so terrible. The term is a play on the words “potus,” meaning president, and “morse,” meaning code talk. It was created to make fun of the president and his tweets. Unfortunately, the hashtag has been used to spread fake news and conspiracy theories. The problem began when Twitter user Donald J. Trump Jr. used the hashtag to promote a false story about Democratic National Committee emails that had been leaked by Russian hackers. Since then, the hashtag has been used to share a wide variety of conspiracy theories and fake news stories. One example is a tweet from conservative commentator Candace Owens that claims Hillary Clinton was involved in a child sex ring operating out of a pizza restaurant in Washington D.C.. This tweet has been shared more than 16,000 times using the “PotusMorsemashable” hashtag. Another example is an article about how celebrities are protesting Trump by refusing to use his nickname on their social media profiles. The article was published on a website that is known for spreading conspiracy theories about the government and deep state conspiracies.
The “PotusMorsemashable” hashtag is causing serious problems for Twitter. First, it has been used to promote fake news stories and conspiracy theories. Second, it discredits Twitter as a platform for reliable information dissemination by users who are not familiar
Twitter Responds to the Hashtag
Twitter has come under fire recently for their lack of response to the hashtag #PotusMorsemashable, which was created to criticize President Trump’s use of the app. The hashtag was created by Twitter user @Mashable and quickly gained popularity, with users posting memes and GIFs mocking Trump’s tweets. However, Twitter has not responded to the hashtag publicly, instead choosing to only respond to individual tweets that use the hashtag.
Many users have been critical of Twitter’s lack of response, saying that it shows that the company is not serious about combating Trump’s use of their platform. Others have pointed out that Twitter is not obligated to respond to a hashtag and that they are free to make their own decisions regarding how they deal with user feedback.