#halalan2022 top hashtag, π top emoji on Twitter during PH elections week
#halalan2022 was the most used hashtag on Twitter during the Philippine election week, according to the social media platform.
In an email to PhilSTAR L!fe, Twitter said that from midnight of May 9 to noon of May 13, #halalan2022 was the top hashtag among over 22 million tweets written during the period.
One of the most prominent tweets bearing the hashtag was from broadcast journalist Karen Davila, when she called out the Commission on Elections (Comelec) due to the vote-counting machine (VCM) hiccups throughout election day.
If voters are DISENFRANCHISED because they don’t make the 7pm cut-off, hindi na ito kasalanan ng mga botante o nang pandemya.
The Comelec should made accountable. The Filipino people deserve vote counting machines that work. #Halalan2022— Karen Davila (@iamkarendavila) May 9, 2022
In the first few hours after polls opened at 6 a.m., a number of voters took to social media to complain about VCM problems in their respective polling precincts. This includes vice presidential spokesman Barry Gutierrez, who lamented how he lined up as early as 5:30 a.m., only to be told to "just come back" later due to his polling precinct's malfunctioning VCM.
Due to the VCM issues, #extendvotinghoursph and #votereportph also became top hashtags.
Poll watchdog Kontra Daya and many concerned citizens called on Comelec to consider extending voting hours beyond 7 p.m. due to the VCM issues. However, it didn't happen. Many voters across the country stayed in their polling precincts hours beyond 7 p.m., even until the next day.
VoteReportPH, meanwhile, is a grassroots-based electoral campaign which aims to "inform, organize, and mobilize the Filipino people to push for meaningful reforms in the elections with the aid of new media technology."
During the conduct of elections, it urged netizens to tag it and report incidents of elections-related anomalies. As of May 9, 10 p.m., VoteReportPH said it received over 3,500 reports.
π Report | May 9, 10:00 PM
— VoteReportPH (@VoteReportPH) May 9, 2022
As of the official end of the voting period, VoteReportPH has received over 3,500 reports, documenting incidents of possible elections-related anomalies. The majority of the reports are either election (72.7%) and campaign (24.8%) incidents. pic.twitter.com/2jVWsAQ4Hq
#lenirobredoforpresident was also a trending hashtag, as Vice President Leni Robredo's supporters rallied behind the presidential candidate hoping for her to pull off an upset against pre-election survey frontrunner Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
Based on 98.35% of election returns, however, Marcos Jr. has become the country's presumptive president after getting over 31.1 million votes, over half of Robredo's 14.8 million.
Other hashtags related to the May 9 polls were also among Twitter's Top 10, such as #eleksyon2022, #elections2022ph, #votesafepilipinas, #phvote, #nle2022, and #bumotoka.
Vote SAFE Pilipinas is the country's official campaign banner for its 2022 national and local elections launched by Comelec.
In its campaign banner, the poll body said it is its mandate to assure each Filipino that there will be Secure, Accurate, Free, and Fair Elections.
For emojis, meanwhile, it's π or the Loudly Crying Face that was used the most on Twitter during election week.
According to Emojipedia, an emoji reference website, the Loudly Crying Face "may convey inconsolable grief but also other intense feelings, such as uncontrollable laughter, pride or overwhelming joy."
It became the most popular emoji on Twitter in March 2021, based on Emojipedia's analysis of 1.68 billion tweets dated between June 1, 2018, and March 31, 2021. It held this position until January 2022, when π or Face with Tears of Joy returned as top emoji.
Also among the leading emojis was Face with Tears of Joy, which is "widely used to show something is funny or pleasing" according to Emojipedia.
The Top 5 list is rounded out by πΈ (Cherry Blossom), π΅π (Flag: Philippines), and π (Growing Heart).
Cherry Blossom and Growing Heart, which have pink hues, are used by Robredo's supporters, who identify themselves as "Kakampink," a portmanteau of "kakampi" or ally and "pink." Robredo chose pink as her campaign's color because according to her, it's a "symbol of radicalism."
Here are the rankings that Twitter sent to PhilSTAR L!fe:
Top 10 hashtags:
- #halalan2022
- #eleksyon2022
- #lenirobredoforpresident
- #election2022ph
- #votesafepilipinas
- #extendvotinghoursph
- #votereportph
- #phvote
- #nle2022
- #bumotoka
Top 5 emojis:
- π
- πΈ
- π΅π
- π
- π
Twitter, however, said it cannot share the exact number of times the hashtags and emojis have been used during the election week.