#Merdeka55 Records Astounding 3.6 Million Tweets In One Hour

In August 31, 2012, Malaysians may have set a new world record by sending a massive 3.6 million tweets in a span of 60 minutes as citizens celebrated Independence Day. The event bore the hashtag #merdeka55. The hashtag was created by organizers of a major Independence Day event at Datara Merdeka where they had people from all around the country share their own thoughts on Malaysian Independence Day. Merdeka means ?independence? in Malay. Around 10,000 individuals launched the start of the record-smashing activity at around 8:15pm by sending their own Merdeka tweets at the Bukit Jalil Stadium. Several massive electronic screens were set up in the stadium presenting the current number of tweets as the clock continued to run. Many of the tweets were about national pride, love of country and patriotism. Netizens also shared their own sentiments, with many students heavily involved in the process and openly texting how proud they were to be part of such a successful endeavor. Some Twitter users were able to send out over a hundred tweets each regardless of their Internet connection speeds. Mohd Hafiz, a Malaysian netizen told the New Straits Times, ?I sent out as may tweets as I could expressing my happiness that the country has sailed through 55 years despite many obstacles and challenges.? Aside from patriotic messages, there were also others who shared their views and vision on the country in the next years to come. ?Sending my tweets using @rashvinrao, I conveyed my feelings for the nation and hoped the country would move forward into becoming a progressive nation,? shared university student Rao Shankar Rao. All these individuals were considered part of the Malaysian ?Twitter team? to come up with the millions of tweets between 8:15pm and 9:15pm. As the clock ticked to the last second, the numbers were made official and the new record was set. At this point, it is important to note that Twitter has yet to make an official announcement whether or not a record was broken by this initiative. Nevertheless, it was a remarkable way to celebrate Independence Day, reflecting the unity and nationalism that Malaysians have passed on and shared in the past 55 years.