Hashtag war: How pro-government accounts failed to beat #OccupyJulorbiHouse online

The official hashtag for the Democracy Hub's three-day anti-government protest was #OccupyJulorbiHouse, which hashtag was widely expected to trend over the three days and beyond.

It indeed made the trends, topping over two clear days and even a day afterwards.

The hashtag grossed a million posts on the final day of the protests but it wasn't without the dogged reminder by activists that people posting about or retweeting protest content should beware of the hashtag they use.

There had been corrupted versions of the hashtag which was widely said to be the handiwork of pro-government social media armies.

A tech guru with links to the government on the final day of protests raised a concern on Twitter (now X).

Keyser Soze who goes by the X name @qrsyth tweeted: "Twitter/X algorithms are acting pro-government. I suspect foul play. Won’t be surprised if my NPP folks have twisted arms or deployed their digital “dis-information” crews. #OccupyJulorbiHouse."

Before long, he alleged with some evidence having been kicked out of social media page were some of the hashtag wars were being planned.

Variants of the official hashtag now sprung up and one became so dominant that despite being the wrong hashtag was the first dropdown option for anyone who did not take note before posting - it was #OccupJulorbiHouse.

Other corrupted variants included: #OccupyJulorbijouse, #Occupyjubileehouse, #Occupyjubilorhouse, #OcvupyJulorbiHouse and #OccupyJuborliHouse.

When the three day protest ended, government and ruling party officials now deployed a counter hashtag in apparent response to the #OccupyJulorbiHouse version.

Soze tweeted about it on Sunday, September 24: "NPP social media army is starting (or planning to start) a PR and face-saving campaign with ##iChoosePositiveEnergy.

"I wish everyone who did online activism for #OccupyJulorbiHouse will hijack that hashtag and post all the positive energy that we can’t have cos of hardship."

FixTheCountry alerts to hashtag wars:

Guys, share this widely.

The Government sponsored BOT machinery has activated bots to run these different hashtags to dissipate the trending energy.

Occupjulorbihouse

OccupyJulorbijouse

Occupyjubileehouse

Occupyjubilorhouse

OcvupyJulorbiHouse

OccupyJuborliHouse

These are messing people up. Please check the hashtag carefully before you post. Always Type it out fully! Don’t select the first thing that pops up. The correct hashtag is #OccupyJulorbiHouse

Guys, share this widely.

The Government sponsored BOT machinery has activated bots to run these different hashtags to dissipate the trending energy.

Occupjulorbihouse

OccupyJulorbijouse

Occupyjubileehouse

Occupyjubilorhouse

OcvupyJulorbiHouse

OccupyJuborliHouse

These are…

— #Fixthecountry (@Ghfixthecountry) September 24, 2023