In this election season, all hashtags are political hashtags.
As an interesting example, here’s a hashtag started by an organization:
Roses are red
Violets are blue
We can't afford food
Ramen will doWrite poems about being broke & poor with #Pooretry
On @HashtagRoundup pic.twitter.com/B0vxHDFMhY
— The Goodtime Club (@TheGoodtimeClub) October 22, 2016
The Goodtime Club’s website is under construction, but their Facebook page says they’re about “daily humor, art, and inspirational wisdom to make sure life is a good time. Host of a hashtag game on Twitter Saturdays at 5:30PM EST.”
It seems, then, that #pooretry was their hashtag game for Saturday the 22nd. You can see the spike in social media at that time.
This hashtag is interesting for its nature as a Twitter game invented just for the fun of Tweeting, but also because it is not really designed around a particular social movement, product, or attitude. It’s merely as a game.
Here are some examples — see for yourself!
Roses r red
Violets r blue
I've eaten eggs for 26 days straight
4 the love of God please like my music so I can buy real food#Pooretry— Crow Mixel (@CrowMixel) October 23, 2016
Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
I'm broke.
#Pooretry— Laurie Crosswell (@lauriecrosswell) October 22, 2016
Do not go gentle into that pay day loan
Rage, rage against the punitive interest rates#Pooretry— I, Robert (@papermonkeynz) October 22, 2016
https://twitter.com/DavidHoustonVox/status/789954010530783232
I'll have a glass of water, the unlimited breadsticks, and the never-ending salad. Also, some lemon wedges and sugar packets. #Pooretry
— Melody Valdez (@MelodiaValdez) October 23, 2016
I'm down on my luck
Too poor to afford the last
Syllable here#Pooretry #Haiku— The Jay Agenda || 00:00:00:00 (@OatToaster) October 22, 2016
As you can see, you don’t have to be Lord Byron to participate. Some users just used it as an excuse to write dozens of short poems on their Twitter, with varying levels of actual poetry involved.
As you can see from the examples above, some where very thoughtful, others sarcastic, some just funny. There was some confusion as to the actual purpose of #pooretry, even though it was clearly defined by the original post. As one user put it:
Clearly, an innocuous pastime.
But is it only useful as a game?
Typical of this election, some of these Tweets have a distinctly political cast:
If I only had money I'd make it rain
I might even go crazy
Buy the Orange man a Brain— nnnnn123 (@totljlt123) October 23, 2016
https://twitter.com/AnonymousJobsUS/status/789983812184842241
I'm fat, broke & tired & a little bit wired. The system is rigged and our leader's been fired #Pooretry
— 💪🏿🍉Spottless ☭Marxx❤️🩹 (@SpottlessMarxx) October 23, 2016
https://twitter.com/kissmiss1111/status/789993909187379200
My name is #Trump
The everyday man
I can only afford
1 solid gold can pic.twitter.com/Pak0oCWQK1— Hokey Pokey 😂 (@uncle_gong) October 23, 2016
Whether you use it to critique Election 2016 or just to write bad poetry, #pooretry is interesting in that it’s neither created by a “normal person” on Twitter or a celebrity or business…it was made by some sort of middle-group type of organization with an under-construction website and apparently the only goal of spreading positive vibes online.
Let’s see if it’s enough to combat the depressive powers of Presidential Election Season 2016.
