Hashtivist (hashtag + activist)
“Hashtag activism” (activism that uses a Twitter hashtag to promote a cause) has been cited in print since 2009. In March 2014, a hashtag activist used “#CancelColbert” to attempt to cancel Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report after a perceived attack against Asians. Stephen Colbert defended the comedy segment and apologized for the confusion about a tweet that he did not make. On March 31, 2014, Colbert said:
“All this was started by a hashtag activist or ‘hashtivist’ who has been viciously attacked on Twitter.”
“Hashtivist” had been cited on Twitter since March 28. 2014. Some people disliked the neologism because of a seemingly implied association with “hash.”
Word Spy
hashtag activism
n. Activism that uses a Twitter hashtag to promote a project or cause, particularly when it requires no other action from people.
—hashtag activist n.
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Earliest Citation:
Tracy and I wouldn’t have devoted as much time and energy to hashtag activism in general and #p2 in particularly if we didn’t understand what’s at stake here.
—Jon Pincus, “The Great Hashtag Debate of 2009” (comment), Odd Time Signatures, May 3, 2009
Twitter
Monica Curca
@MonicaCurcaPAX
@NFPKate right u are #hashtagavists? #hashvists? #hashtivist ? What shall we choose?
11:05 AM - 28 Mar 2014
Twitter
Bob Schooley
@Rschooley
Has anybody claimed “Hashtivist” as a neologism yet? Does it sound too Midnight Express?
6:36 PM - 28 Mar 2014
Twitter
Alex Litel
@alexlitel
Are we calling hashtag activists hashtivists or hashtagtivists?
10:38 PM - 28 Mar 2014
Twitter
Marianne Ryan
@MimiRyan0110
The man is brilliant! Happy to not here the hashtivist’s name, she does her own self-promotion #ColbertReport
10:50 PM - 31 Mar 2014
Mediaite
Colbert Rails Against ‘Dark Forces’ of #CancelColbert in Epic Segment
by Josh Feldman | 11:56 pm, March 31st, 2014
Stephen Colbert returned tonight with an epic rebuttal to the #CancelColbert trend that inspired such fierce debate over the weekend, starting out with a dream sequence cold open in which Twitter activism actually did cancel his show. Colbert went on to defiantly proclaim, “The dark forces trying to silence my message of core conservative principles mixed with youth-friendly product placement have been thwarted.”
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(Part II at 6:30—ed.)
Stephen Colbert: All this was started by a hashtag activist or “hashtivist” who has been viciously attacked on Twitter.
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COMMENTS
Bryan Hayes • 2 hours ago
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