Before the 2012 Olympics started, occasional Twitter user Steven Marx (@StevenMarx) had only about 20 or so followers and posted just around 350 times since he joined the micro-blogging site in 2009.
However, when off the top of his head he decided to use the #NBCFail hashtag to rant about NBC's allegedly dismal coverage of the Olympic events, his world changed.
The 48-year-old stay-at-home father and part-time web designer from Illionois fielded interview request from the likes of What's Trending and CNN.com, all because his offhand comment (seen below)?created a mass hysteria worldwide.
Interesting how NBC never mentions you need a cable/satellite subscription w/MSNBC/CNBC to view any coverage online. We're screwed.The hashtag that started with just around 212 tweets in July 27, the start of the Olympics' opening ceremony, had ballooned dramatically to over 20,000 by July 29. "I probably used it assuming it had been used before or would be used again, so there was probably some anticipation. But I have very few followers, so I didn?t expect anything like this,? said Marx in an interview with Mashable. Admittedly, this isn't the first time Twitter has seen the #NBCFail hashtag on its boards. But, this year, it was Marx's comment that sparked the mass hysteria online. From the measly 20 followers before all this started, Marx saw his following jump to 66 in a span of three days. Talk about instant celebrity! Of course, that deviates from the original point of the #NBCFail hashtag in the first place, which is NBC's disappointing Olympics coverage. But we all know how that has ended with a journalist who tried to criticize it online. Thoughts? Let us know in the comments section.#NBCFail ? Steven Marx (@stevenmarx) July 27, 2012
