On Twitter, issues and updates pertaining to the English town of Reading usually involve the hashtag
#rdg.
However, frequent users of the hashtag were surprised to discover that a Japanese cartoon has taken over the conversation.
RDG Red Data Girl is a new cartoon series which uses the very same hashtag.
#rdg was immediately filled with posts from over 17,000 fans of the anime character last April 3, 2013 for a span of one hour.
Because of the surprised hashtag hijacking, usual Twitter users who pertain to Reading are looking for a substitute to eliminate all tweets spawned by the new anime series.
Recently, the tweets from Red Data Girl fans have subsided but the people of Reading are still determined to find an alternative to avoid similar situations in the future.
A poll was released by the local newspaper to ask for suggestions from users on the new best hashtag.
The online poll has resulted to a number of possible hashtags including #redding, #rding, #rg1 and #rdguk.
The #rdg hashtag immediately trended well after the April 3 release of the new anime series on Japanese television. The show revolves around a teenage girl who enrolls in a high school in Tokyo but tends to destroy all electrical items she touches.
The popularity of the hashtag can be managed by Twitter by throttling. The process involves slowing down service on an international scale to prevent quick surges in traffic.
Hashtag hijacking is a common incidence on Twitter, especially among entirely distinct conversations that share the same name or terms. Throttling is expected to be used by Twitter more frequently, considering the growing number of users who use Twitter and hashtags.
Hashtag hijacking can be prevented by choosing unique names that still describe the subject matter clearly. Twitter users are still welcome to vote for the new Reading alternative hashtag.
Read more on avoiding hashtag hijacks.
